Automotive News: 3D Printing Gears Up for Bigger Parts, Faster Output

This article was published on September 1, 2020 via Automotive News online. 

Binder jet 3D printing is revving-up the automotive industry, increasingly viewed as the 3D printing technology that will get automakers to production. 

As written by Automotive News' Richard Truett: "Binder jet printing is making big strides in the size of parts it can produce and the speed at which they are cranked out. It is becoming an important production tool as the industry shifts from the internal combustion engine to electrified powertrains."

The article explains why binder jetting is so attractive to the auto industry, such as its ability to do parts in a wide range of materials, interviewing ExOne CEO John Hartner about the potential for the future of ExOne's core technology in automotive.

Hartner explained that many automakers already use ExOne's sand 3D printing technology for metal castings, but those relationship are moving into a new phase. "We're moving into direct metal printing for large-scale applications. Our customers have multiyear programs that we are working on with them," said Hartner, "They are designing new products for 2022-23 that have real benefits. Some of that is for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, some for hybrids and some for EVs."

While there's a growing number of regular production parts for high-performance vehicles being made on binder jet printers, Hartner expects that by around the end of 2022, binder jet machines will be producing parts in high volume for at least some mainstream vehicles.

Click here to read the full article from Automotive News.