Metal 3D printing has been just recently regarded as an innovative technology of the future. Meanwhile, it is fast becoming a reality. A team of Renault Trucks designers from the brand’s Powertrain Engineering department in Lyon has focused on using metal 3D printing as a profitable addition to the engine manufacturing process. As of today, the 3D-printed complex parts have been successfully tested inside a Euro 6 engine.
Though the complete engine prototype (the DTI 5 4- cylinder Euro 6 step C version) was designed virtually, such parts as rocker arms and camshaft bearing caps were produced by metal 3D printing technology. The bench tests have already made up 600 hours inside a Euro 6 engine. And the results are claimed to be much-promising.
The project is aimed to demonstrate the benefits of metal additive manufacturing regarding the size and weight of an engine. They are the following: the weight of a 4-cylinder engine has been reduced by 25% (120 kg); the number of components in the DTI 5 engine has been reduced by the same 25% (allowing to do without 200 parts). Both reductions can contribute to greater payloads and lower fuel consumption of the vehicles used by haulage companies.
