JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #91 - August/September 2014 - 47

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One component, one module,
one body, one vision

By

With its latest project, EDAG Genesis, EDAG offers a visionary
outlook for what might well be the next industrial revolution in
automotive development and production.

Christoph Horvath
Director PR-Communication
EDAG Engineering AG

A

is part of the animal's bony structure. The
shell is similar to a sandwich component,
with fine, inlying bone structures that give
the shell its strength and stability. This
concept is reflected in the exhibit.
The skeleton as a metaphor
In EDAG Genesis, the skeleton is more
of a metaphor; it is there to ensure not
mobility, but passenger safety. The
framework calls to mind a naturally
developed skeletal frame, the form and
structure of which should make one thing
perfectly clear - these organic structures
cannot be built using conventional tools.
Generative manufacturing processes
or additive manufacturing will leave
rapid prototyping fields of application

Futuristic vehicle sculpture
At its stand at the Geneva automotive
show in March 2014, the company
presented a futuristic vehicle sculpture,
EDAG Genesis, which, using the example
of a body structure, is designed to demonstrate the revolutionary potential of
additive manufacturing; including bionic
lightweight principles, topological optimisation and a load-conforming design
strategy. In a roadmap, EDAG assesses
promising technologies for the development and possible production of struc-

EDAG Genesis, a futuristic vehicule sculpture

No91 August - September 2014 /

Feature Automotive

component, module, or even a
complete, one-piece vehicle body
produced in one single production
process! Impossible? Current advances
in additive manufacturing have brought
what still sounds like utopia one step
closer to reality. The industrial 3D print
revolution has begun. Once consumer
printers for €1,000 have flooded the
market, industrial applications will
soon follow the consumer hype. Reason
enough for EDAG, one of the leading
engineering service providers in the
automotive industry, to give an idea of the
revolution that might well occur in the
automotive industry, and assess the status
quo of additive manufacturing processes
from today's point of view.

tural parts and modules in low-volume
series. The EDAG Genesis project can
be seen as a symbol of the new freedoms
that additive manufacturing processes
will open up to designers and engineers in
development and production.
Additive manufacturing will make it
possible to come a great deal closer to
the construction principles and strategies
of nature; developed functionally and
evolutionarily into optimised structures
from which man can learn. And the entire
process is tool-free, resource-saving and
eco-friendly.
EDAG Genesis is based on the bionic
patterns of a turtle, which has a shell that
provides protection and cushioning and

jec composites magazine 47
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #91 - August/September 2014

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