3D Metal Printing from an Industrial Perspective—Product Design, Production, and Business Models

Abstract

This paper is focused on automotive stamping tools and dies as well as the impact of 3D metal printing and metals related 3D-printing on design and production of such tools and dies. The purpose has been to find out the current industrial potential of 3D-printing as far as lead time, costs, shapes, material usage, metal piece size, surface roughness, hardness, strength, and machinability are concerned. The business transformational impact of 3D-printing is also addressed in this paper. The obtained results show that the lead time can be halved, the costs are somewhat higher, and the strength, hardness, surface roughness, and machinability of the 3D-printed metallic tools and dies are as good as those of the conventionally made. The maximum size of a metal piece that can be 3Dprinted today by Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) is, in the best case, 500 mm × 500 mm × 500 mm. 3D-printing can also be used for the pattern to make the mold box in iron and steel casting. It is also possible to eliminate the casting pattern, since the mold box can be 3D-printed directly. All this has started to have a large business impact, and it is therefore of great significance to outline and execute an action plan almost immediately.

Production Tools Made by Additive Manufacturing Through Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion

“…Both the puller and the punch are3D-printed with ahoneycomb inner structure(shown in Fig.13). (See also [9]) puller and the punch shown in Fig. 5 were 3D-printed in DIN 1.2709 (maraging steel) in this previous investigation [9].…”

“…The number of metallic materials that can be used to 3Dprint tools, dies and molds is still limited [9]. Among these few existing powder metals, the maraging steel DIN 1.2709 is held to be applicable in tool making for stamping [5].…”

“…The maximum size that can be 3D-printed by LPBF today is 500 mm × 500 mm × 500 mm [9]. This investigation explores the potential of AM, despite this size limitation.…”

“…5 constitute one of the working stations in the progressive die for stamping of the car body part C-Bow Lower. In a previous investigation [9], this work station was made both conventionally and with an AM inclusive process. The part, C-Bow Lower, is made in 1-mm thick hot-dip galvanized D600.…”

“…(See also [9]) puller and the punch shown in Fig. 5 were 3D-printed in DIN 1.2709 (maraging steel) in this previous investigation [9]. To explore the industrial potential of AM in stamping tool applications, the punch shown in Fig.…”