3D printing has turn out to be quite a big thing lately. From your customary household items to one-off components, and still small handheld fully functioning firing weapon, 3D printing is going mainstream. Automotive industry is one thing where 3D printing technology is playing the most important role. One of the most significant automotive parts that have to be mentioned is the Bugatti’s new brake calliper that is the world’s largest 3D-printed titanium component.
The new-fangled 8-piston 3D-printed titanium brake calliper developed by Bugatti was put in front of the automotive community yesterday. The new brake calliper is crafted for Bugatti Chiron. Bearing in mind the Chiron makes approximately 1500 BHP, you require all the technology in the world to make it stop too. And the Bugatti engineers resoluted that the best bet to make the car stop even quicker to develop the titanium brake calliper from scratch.
The new-fangled Chiron brake calliper weighs roughly about 3 kilograms (2.9kg) and is 16-inches long. The new calliper is 40% lighter than that of the current brake calliper on Bugatti Chiron which is crafted from forged aluminium alloy. The new brake calliper at the present holds the spotlight for being the single biggest 3D-printed car component made from titanium in the world. And it no normal titanium; Bugatti is using the alike aerospace-grade material that is used for aircraft parts.
A 3D printer equipped by four 400-watt lasers was used by Bugatti for printing the calliper and it took the printer 45 hours to print out one piece of the caliper. The calliper is exposed to 700 degrees Celsius in the process, eliminating the residual stress and to ensure dimensional stability of the component.The new calliper is not going on the Chiron just yet. Bugatti aims to test the component broadly for the first half of 2018 prior to it finalizes the end product for the production car.
