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Excerpt

Bugatti has used a 3-D printer to make a titanium brake caliper. The titanium powder was applied to a supporting structure and then fused layer by layer with four lasers, each of 400 W. A total of 2213 layers had to be applied. The titanium brake caliper is 41 cm long, 21 cm wide, 13.6 cm high, and weighs 2.9 kg. Compared to the aluminum component now in use, which weighs 4.9 kg, Bugatti could save 40 % in weight when used in a vehicle, while also offering even higher load-bearing capacity. The tensile strength achieved, even as a 3-D printed component, is 1250 N/mm², and it took only three months from the initial concept to the printed end component. The basic concept, the strength and stiffness simulations and calculations as well as the design were provided by Bugatti to the Fraunhofer Institute for Additive Production Technologies (IAPT). This was also the venue for the process simulation, the design of the support structures, the actual pressure and the heat treatment of the component. Bugatti then took over for the finishing work. The first series production trials are scheduled for the first half of 2018. …