SZEngine produces racing engine on SLM Solutions metal AM machine
October 10, 2018
Györkös Szabolcs and Gyuris Attila from SZEngine with the Formula Student racing car (Courtesy SLM Solutions Group AG)
Hungarian student team SZEngine has produced what is thought to be the world’s first additively manufactured Formula Student racing engine, using technology from SLM Solutions Group AG, Lübeck, Germany. All of the main components for the 55 hp single-cylinder engine were produced on an SLM®280 2.0 metal Additive Manufacturing machine. The project is part of a cooperation with the Motor Manufacturing Centre (MAC) of Audi Hungaria in Győr, Hungary.
SZEngine designs and develops engines for teams taking part in Formula Student, an international racing series in which students develop, construct and then race their own cars. As a pilot project, the team began by additively manufacturing the timing side of the crankcase. As the component was designed for conventional processing, and therefore required too many support structures, the team’s crankcase designer, Dániel Kővári, digitally redesigned the component to make it suitable for metal Additive Manufacturing.
In order to be able to call the engine a fully “3D printed engine”, the team subsequently redesigned all of the other main engine components for metal AM. In total, nine engine components were produced using SLM technology, including the two-part crankcase, the cylinder, the cylinder head and cylinder head cover, as well as the covers for the clutch, timing belt, oil filter and oil pump.
After Additive Manufacturing, the components were mechanically processed and measured at the Motor Manufacturing Centre (MAC). After being tested both individually and together on the SZEngine team’s test bench, the engine was installed in the team’s test car.
Ralf Frohwerk, Global Head of Business Development at SLM Solutions, stated, “Every day, our customers are placing greater trust in SLM technology. This impressive project from SZEngine and Audi Hungaria in Győr clearly shows that metal-based 3D printing is not just suitable for prototypes, but can also be successfully used for series production, especially small batches. The customer’s experience in component design for 3D printing shows how Additive Manufacturing can enable improvements both in terms of function and performance.
