Page 22 - 3D Metal Printing Winter 2019

3D 3D Printing: Ford Is on Board
develop technologies across disciplines so that we deliver immediately deployable and immediately scalable solutions for our plants.”
Huge Time and
Cost Savings Via AM
During an exclusive 3D Metal Printing tour, we were able to discuss AM in-depth with Sears, and also meet Dr. Ellen Lee, additive manufacturing technical leader for research. And, we took a close look at Ford’s AM development work at the cen- ter—including tools, jigs and fixtures; robotic end-of-arm tooling; and produc- tion parts—performed on 23 metal and resin machines that employ 10 different AM technologies. On the metals side, the center features a Desktop Metal Studio System (Ford is a Desktop Metal investor) currently running 17-4 stainless steel as well as two SLM Solutions 500 HL units, one running AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy and the other 316L stainless. These rep- resent the first metal-AM machines in Ford’s North American arsenal.
The impressive array of AM-pro- duced products includes the first application off of the SLM stainless- steel machine: a sleeve used on assembly lines to help balance trans- missions.
The tool slips over the input shaft of a transmission, allowing a techni- cian to turn the transmission by hand via a ratchet attachment to spin and correctly balance and position the transmission. It’s made of 316L to replace a costly machined predeces- sor that required extensive lead time.
“These sleeves were made of a hardened tool steel and making them via 3D printing, we were concerned about the interior splines failing,” explains Brad Van Dike, Ford metal additive manufacturing specialist and responsible for the SLM machines at the center. “The AM material, 316L, is one of the softest stainless steels— kind of gummy. Rather than just mak- ing one, we made several in case the splines began wearing, and design and build took only about four weeks.
Here’s a 3D-printed Type 316L stainless- steel sleeve used on assembly lines to help balance transmissions. Made on a selective laser melting machine, it replaces a costly tool-steel predecessor that required extensive lead time for machining.
Assembly workers only needed one sleeve to turn 100 transmissions, so it has worked out very well.”
Lead time and cost savings peg the tool as an AM winner for Ford. And the wins don’t end there, as the redesign of a trans- mission-case gripper shows. Fitted on a robot arm, the lift-assist gripper proved unwieldy for assembly personnel and couldn’t adjust to handle larger transmis- sions. A redesign for AM made it more functional and also delivered almost a tree-branch appearance. The prototype has been printed in plastic and currently is under testing to validate its fit on the line. Once validated, the gripper will be produced in four or five pieces via the Desktop Metal printer, as opposed to per- haps 30-plus parts welded together using traditional manufacturing. And, the new AM gripper will allow for use of the same transmission pallets on the same line. Oth- erwise, Ford would need to buy new pallets and build a line extension, according to Sears, who estimates that the AM gripper
can save Ford as much as $2 million. “We’re excited about this design and excited about the opportunity to save the company some money,”
he says.
Resin Printing Lends Significant Support
The resin machines have helped immensely with prototyping, accord- ing to Sears, noting Ford’s stake in AM dating to its incorporation of the stereolithography equipment a quar- ter-century ago. Today, resin parts, produced at the center on machines fromCarbon,HP,Voxeljet,EOS,Prod- ways, Stratasys and 3D Systems, find their way into numerous prototyping and assembly operations.
“Normally, we store wear tools in warehouse space, but to reduce inventory we are printing those as needed,” Sears explains as he pro- vides more resin-AM manufacturing- support successes.
These include a tool to install O- rings on a transmission input shaft. Ford redesigned the original, a heavy,
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The tool sleeve for balancing transmissions was made of a hardened tool steel “and making them via 3D printing, we were concerned about the interior splines failing,” explains Brad Van Dike, metal additive manufacturing specialist at Ford’s Advanced Manufacturing Center. “Rather than just making one, we made several in case the splines began wearing, and design and build took only about four weeks. Assembly workers only needed one to turn 100 transmissions, so the new tool has worked out very well.”