For the millions of fans, the new F1 season only starts this weekend. Behind the scenes, the teams are preparing for a long time. And the necessary pieces will have been printed. The BWT Alpine F1 team even bought four new SLA 3D printers, the new type SLA 750 from 3D Systems. No doubt many test models have already been printed for the new A352 racing car in which the team is participating this year.
BWT Alpine F1 has been one of the beta testers of this new SLA printer. In combination with the Accura Composite PIV material, the engineering team mainly 3D prints models for wind tunnel testing, in addition to small composite tools and molds. In particular, the speed that the team achieves with the SLA 750 printers is decisive in the selection of this model, in addition to the accuracy.
Iterate faster for wind tunnel testing
F1 team prints 25,000 parts per year
“We put the SLA 750 through its paces in testing and achieved the best product quality we’ve seen on the market to date, with significantly higher productivity. So we purchased additional SLA 750 systems to bring our total to four. We are benefiting from the positive impact this has on our wind tunnel testing and getting our innovation to the track faster,” said Ben Mallock, Deputy Head of Aerodynamics at BWT Alpine F1. The team will be able to print 25,000 parts this year with the new 3D printers. The new SLA 750 model is equipped with the Sprint software for preparing a build job and converting CAD data to a 3D print. The high productivity allows the team to optimize the use of the wind tunnel. The Accura Composite PIV material was developed together with the racing team. The higher accuracy and shorter work preparation are two advantages of this material.
3D Systems introduced the SLA 750 a year ago. This 3D printer is available with one or two laser sources. Both models have a build volume of 750 by 750 by 550 mm and can print parts up to 85 kg.
