Local Motors and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have begun trials on their 3D printed car today and, while not entirely successful, they’ve produced some interesting results. The partners first intend to 3D print the chassis (or tub) of their auto, which will be attached to a powertrain and driven around as a means of testing the strength of their 3D printed parts. The ultimate plan, though, is to fabricate the majority of the auto as a single piece. Here’s the print they were hoping to make today:
After feeding their ABS/carbon fiber composite into the hopper of ORNL’s giant RepRap, the machine purged some material until it had reached optimal printing conditions. Local Motors posted a picture of the strands of material pumped out of the nozzle and the size of the ABS/carbon fiber tubes is pretty impressive. ORNL is also working on some new extruder nozzles, to add finesse to the project, so expect more variety than what you see below in the future.…
The original post First Reports on Local Motors’ 3D Printed Car appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.