Producer TRUMPF has produced light-weight and secure parts for mountain bikes that may be manufactured cost-effectively utilizing its metallic 3D printing know-how.
The 3D printed components embody high-performance brake calipers with an built-in cooling construction, in addition to brake levers and pedals.
The brake levers are product of titanium and solely weigh eight grams, making it considerably lighter than conventionally manufactured examples. Its grid construction is designed to make sure higher grip between the finger and brake lever.
“With our 3D printing resolution, we provide bicycle producers a sexy different. They will use this know-how to cost-effectively print high-quality, heavy-duty parts in sequence,” mentioned Nicolas Haydt, Know-how Skilled for Additive Manufacturing at TRUMPF.
TRUMPF Software Developer Christian Lengwenat added: “The titanium we use is so sturdy that we want much less materials for a similar stability in comparison with a conventionally manufactured part.”
In line with TRUMPF, its TruPrint 3000 3D printer is ready to print over 120 brake levers per construct job. Haydt added: “The unit price is cheap, coming in at round 12 euros per brake lever and exhibits the opportunity of utilizing TRUMPF machines to anchor titanium sequence manufacturing in biking.”
Cooling buildings are important when tackling the chance of overheating brakes, one thing that happens when a motorbike is using downhill and hydraulic disc brakes attain their restrict. TRUMPF’s calipers include built-in cooling buildings product of a honeycomb and lattice design that ensures the components warmth up far more slowly than calipers manufactured within the conventional means.
The producer additionally produced a 3D printed bicycle pedal, constructed from the identical titanium because the brake lever. “Our objective was to print materials solely the place it’s actually wanted. That saves weight. As well as, we needed to print the so-called pins instantly on the axle of the pedal. This gives a greater grip instantly on the foot,” mentioned Lengwenat.
The bearing seats for the plain and ball bearings within the pedal are additionally printed instantly, that means producers do not need to mechanically rework the pedal. The pedal physique weighs 75 grams and has handed a number of take a look at rides, together with downhill trails within the Alps.
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