Sometimes, to get ahead, you just have to get away – and then focus. Recently, I had the chance to do just that during the Stratasys AE Tech Days training event held at Penske Racing in Charlotte NC. Admittedly, the awesome surroundings tugged a bit at the focus but it was all in the spirit of identifying, understanding, and improving applications of 3D printing inside industrial environments.
3D Printing Doesn’t Just Happen in Industrial Settings
First off, can I just say Coolest Setting Ever for a training event? In between the workshops that gave fifteen reseller engineers and five Stratasys engineers the opportunity to share nitty-gritty knowledge, we all got to tour the 360,400 square feet of Penske Racing headquarters. What a blast to see dozens of NASCAR, INDYCAR, and FIA World Endurance Championship vehicles lined up side-by-side (some under top-secret covers….), watch live Team Penske pit-crew practice rounds (11 seconds!) and then learn how Stratasys 3D printed parts are used across Penske Racing assembly, test, and inspection stations.
Caption: Penske Racing – view of the main floor: the cleanest area I have ever seen in any kind of car-mechanic environment (Image courtesy Pam Waterman)
Eye-candy in the Penske Racing store. Sadly not for sale. (Image courtesy Pam Waterman)
Our second stop was at nearby NASCAR Headquarters, where we drank in more of the history of NASCAR racing, got up close and personal with several generations of vehicle designs, saw even more Stratasys printers, jigs and fixtures, and toured the extensive broadcasting facilities from which the NASCAR media magic is transmitted on race days. (How the producers and camera controllers keep track of what appeared to be about 80 individual monitors on one wall is beyond me.)
Checking out the new modular chassis design and body modifications on NASCAR performance vehicles. (Images courtesy Allen Kreemer)
Just one of the many Media Control rooms at the NASCAR Broadcasting Studio. (Image courtesy Allen Kreemer)
But for 3D printing professionals, the core benefit was increasing our skills as hands-on Application Engineers. The presentations and two-minute Tips and Tricks that each attendee shared taught us new ways to improve benchmark models and assist customers with their own applications. We also learned new uses for 3DP parts and better ways to convey technical information without overwhelming the customer.
For example:
- Avoid curling on Polycarbonate or ULTEM parts that have large flat sections by adding an oversize (0.25 inch) base around the edges instead of anchor columns
- Make stronger hand tools by inserting a steel shank inside an ASA-printed part
- 3D print a protective thumb-guard to make inserting rubber grommets a non-painful assembly-line breeze
- To get a metallic look on a PolyJet part, use GrabCAD Print Pro software to pause the print, insert a thin sheet/shape of actual metal foil, restart the job and print a clear protective layer
- When printing an FDM part, use GrabCAD Print software to temporarily switch from an FDM printer setup to a SAF (powder-bed) setup: you can select the Layer Lines icon to preview the effect of layers on an almost flat/slightly contoured surface for a given orientation. Then switch back to your FDM printer setup to make desired orientation changes/improvements.
- Use the power of Stratasys Insight FDM setup software to add Stabilizer Walls to Support structures for tall, thin models (who knew??)
- Download the Microsoft Power Toys app to gain: Image Resizer, Power Rename, Mouse Highlighter and Color Picker tools. I have already used the latter to “extract” the signature color of a potential customer’s online logo to customize the appearance of a demo part
- Take advantage of the GrabCAD Print Pro Lattice option to make a SAF part print with lower per-part cost by converting a solid part to a honeycomb-infill part. Yes, the internal non-fused powder remains trapped, but the part becomes lighter and you save costs because you’re not using as much Heat Activation Fluid.
- Use Labeling in PolyJet parts to document test colors of sample cubes so you’ll never forget, did I assign HEX 0606F6 or Pantone 2735C to that part?
Stratasys GrabCAD Print Pro software lets users apply labels directly to parts before printing (no need to edit a CAD file first). (Image courtesy Pam Waterman)
And what’s a gathering of automotive-oriented engineers without blowing things up and doing a bit of their own driving? We had the chance to do both at Trackhouse Motorplex Kart-Racing for a fun ending to an excellent Stratasys program.
Pressure-burst testing of SAF Polypropylene parts (Image courtesy Pam Waterman)
Ready for the final ten laps at Trackhouse Motorplex. These carts could do 55mph so serious helmets/neck braces were required. (Image courtesy Pam Waterman)
For anyone who uses Stratasys Insight software, you know this is the proper way to Green Flag a build job. (Image courtesy Jacob Reuter)
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