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World's First 3D Printed Brake Caliper is Made by Bugatti

In what it calls a premiere in the automotive industry, French hypercar manufacturer Bugatti announced today it has produced the world's first eight piston monobloc brake caliper by means of a 3D printer. The part is also the largest of auto componennt of its kind in the world, measuring 41 cm in length, 21 cm in width and 13.6 cm in height.
Bugatti Chiron 1 photo
Photo: Bugatti
Despite its overall size, the caliper weighs only 2.9 kg, compared with the part currently used, a 4.9 kg aluminum component. The weight reduction was possible because the part has been made of titanium alloy, usually used in the aerospace industry.

It took Bugatti “only” three months to design and 3D print the brake caliper at Laser Zentrum Nord in Hamburg. The actual printing of the the part alone took 45 hours and it involved four 400-watt lasers.

It was a very moving moment for the team when we held our first titanium brake caliper from the 3-D printer in our hands,” said Frank Götzke, Head of New Technologies in the Technical Development Department at Bugatti.

In terms of volume, this is the largest functional component produced from titanium by additive manufacturing methods. Everyone who looks at the part is surprised at how light it is – despite its large size. Technically, this is an extremely impressive brake caliper, and it also looks great.

Thetrials for the new component intended for the Chiron will be conducted in the first part of the year, the company says. If it passes those tests, Bugatti's engineers will begin tweaking the production process so that the time needed for future 3D printed parts to come into existence could be shortened.

The brake caliper is not the company's first foray into the 3D printing world. So far it has produced through this process the longest aluminum component to date, a 63-centimeter-long lightweight aluminum windscreen wiper board.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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