Automotive Engineering - May 2021 - 27

PRODUCT

BRIEFS

SPOTLIGHT: 3D PRINTING / ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Large-format 3D metal printer

SAF-based 3D printers

The Sapphire
XC extra-capacity, largeformat printer
from VELO3D
(Campbell,
Calif.) is said
to increase
production
throughput
by 5X and
reduce costper-part by up to 75%, when compared to the existing
Sapphire system. The company also announced plans to
roll-out Sapphire Gen 2, which will be a software and hardware upgrade to the current system. According to VELO3D,
users can expect an improvement of anywhere between
10-50% in productivity and part-cost metrics when compared to the current Sapphire system. The Sapphire XC features larger build volume: 600 mm x 550 mm (23.622 in x
21.653 in) compared to 315 mm x 400 mm (12.402 in x
15.748 in) in Sapphire; higher productivity for production: 8
lasers x 1,000W each compared to 2 lasers x 1,000W in
Sapphire; and an integrated manufacturing process: Fully
integrated with Flow pre-print software and Assure quality
control software.

Stratasys' (Eden
Prairie, Minn.) upcoming line of powder bed
fusion-based 3D printers are specifically
designed to meet the
needs of volume manufacturing. The new H
Series Production
Platform will be powered by selective absorption fusion (SAF)
technology, which is a
new industrial-grade additive manufacturing technology
that delivers production level throughput for end-use parts.
According to Stratasys, SAF-based 3D printers can deliver a
competitive cost per part at production level throughput
and with higher part quality, consistency and reliability as
well as high production yield. SAF technology uses a counter-rotating roller to coat powder layers onto a print bed
and prints absorber fluid to image the part layers. The imaged layers are fused by passing an IR lamp over the entire
span of the print bed. SAF technology executes these key
process steps in the same direction across the print bed to
provide a uniform thermal experience for all printed parts
regardless of their placement in the build.

For more information, visit http://info.hotims.com/79441-400

For more information, visit http://info.hotims.com/79441-401

Motion and I/O controller

Structural adhesive

ClearCore from Teknic (Rochester,
N.Y.) is a low-cost, multi-axis,
motion and industrial I/O controller
offering OEMs a new way to save
space, money and wiring in their
automated machinery. ClearCore
provides four axes of motion
control, Ethernet, serial, USB, and wireless expandability along
with 13 configurable digital & analog I/O points. Hardware
includes a 32-bit, floating point ARM Cortex-M4 processor, 192k
local RAM, 512k Flash, interrupt handler, and an onboard SD
Card interface for storage expansion. ClearCore provides up to
four axes of motion control for Teknic's ClearPath integrated
servos, third party stepper drives, or any brushless servo motor
with a digital servo drive. Customers can extend I/O
compliment with 8-point I/O expansion modules (CCIO-8) for a
total I/O compliment of 73 I/O points. ClearCore is compatible
with XBee modules for peer-to-peer wireless communications
such as WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, DigiMesh and 802.15.4.

Designed for high-volume series production, DELO's (Sudbury, Mass.) DELODUOPOX TC8686 structural adhesive for
hybrid-electric vehicle batteries is thermally conductive and flame-retardant.
Already in use by an automotive supplier
in the ramp-up phase of production, this
new adhesive is suitable for low-voltage
batteries found in mild hybrid and
conventional hybrid vehicles, as well as
in e-bikes and e-scooters. The DELO-DUOPOX TC8686 allows
battery cells to be bonded into a battery's housing while dissipating the heat generated during operation. Instead of mechanically connecting the battery cells and then using gap fillers for heat dissipation, the adhesive combines connection of
the thermal management system and structural bonding into
one step, simplifying production. It is designed for temperatures ranging from -40°C to +85°C (-40°F to 185°F) and offers
good strength on battery cells and typical housing materials.

For more information, visit http://info.hotims.com/79441-402

For more information, visit http://info.hotims.com/79441-403

AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING

May 2021 27
http://info.hotims.com/79441-400 http://info.hotims.com/79441-401 http://info.hotims.com/79441-402 http://info.hotims.com/79441-403
Automotive Engineering - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - May 2021
