Photo: Porsche
3D printing is slowly creeping itself into the world’s manufacturing processes as a great solution for expediting production. Already a number of carmakers have embraced the technology, and more are likely to do so in the immediate future.
Although we’re still a long way from the first worthwile fully 3D printed car, a number of increasingly complex parts are being produced this way. The latest announcement from this field comes from Porsche, which said this week the pistons that go into the 911 GT2 RS could be made this way.
According to Porsche, not using the traditional production processes allows the pistons to be lighter than the forged series production pistons by about ten percent, while at the same time fully capable of withstanding the loads acting on them.
The lighter pistons translate into an increase of about 30 hp, according to Frank Ickinger, an engineer from the advance drive development department at Porsche.
“Thanks to the new, lighter pistons, we can increase the engine speed, lower the temperature load on the pistons and optimise combustion,” he explains. “This makes it possible to get up to 30 PS more power from the 700 PS biturbo engine, while at the same time improving efficiency.”
Porsche uses high-purity metal powder as the base for the pistons. The material is melted and fused in the form of the desired part with the help of a laser beam.
The German carmaker did not specify when or if these new parts will be making their way into GT2 RS engines, so for the time being this is all a “look what we can do" type of deal.
There are however a number of other 3D printed Porsche parts out there, including (partially) the seats for the 911 and 718, the release lever for the clutch of the Porsche 959, and of course a wealthy catalogue of items for the Porsche classic models.
According to Porsche, not using the traditional production processes allows the pistons to be lighter than the forged series production pistons by about ten percent, while at the same time fully capable of withstanding the loads acting on them.
The lighter pistons translate into an increase of about 30 hp, according to Frank Ickinger, an engineer from the advance drive development department at Porsche.
“Thanks to the new, lighter pistons, we can increase the engine speed, lower the temperature load on the pistons and optimise combustion,” he explains. “This makes it possible to get up to 30 PS more power from the 700 PS biturbo engine, while at the same time improving efficiency.”
Porsche uses high-purity metal powder as the base for the pistons. The material is melted and fused in the form of the desired part with the help of a laser beam.
The German carmaker did not specify when or if these new parts will be making their way into GT2 RS engines, so for the time being this is all a “look what we can do" type of deal.
There are however a number of other 3D printed Porsche parts out there, including (partially) the seats for the 911 and 718, the release lever for the clutch of the Porsche 959, and of course a wealthy catalogue of items for the Porsche classic models.
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