its engineering services. This enables
companies all over Europe to benefi t from
Sauber’s expertise, 3D printed precision
mock-ups, jigs and fi xtures, tooling and
serial production. “Sauber Engineering
is bringing race track performance to all
kinds of companies, large and small,”
states Hansen. “Whether we’re optimising
the performance of our own F1 cars
or helping our third-party customers
reimagine opportunities from prototyping
to serial production, we’re relying on our
expanding arsenal of 3D Systems’ additive
manufacturing solutions to give us a
competitive edge.”
BEHIND THE SCENES
Engineering Designer wanted to get more
of an ‘inside view’ on how Sauber uses
3D printing to best advantage, putting the
following questions to Christoph Hansen:
ED: The 3D printing process builds up
layers, which inevitably produce steps on
low angle slopes; yet aerodynamic testing
requires very smooth surfaces, particularly
when scaled down. Do they need extra
fi nishing or are they able to achieve the
required fi nish with their process?
Hansen: 3D printed SLA parts used in
our wind tunnel testing undergo a series
of internal fi nishing processes at Alfa
Romeo Sauber F1 Team. This includes
washing with liquids, pressure cleaning,
polishing and sand blasting, painting
with black paint. 3D printed SLS parts
and painting. The fi nishing process for
parts used in wind tunnel testing takes
anywhere from a few months to one hour –
depending on part complexity.
ED: What are the ‘nuts and bolts’ of
the actual design process, in pursuit of
the fi nal goal?
Hansen: Our goal is to design parts
with as many options and iterations as
possible in a short period of time. We
use CATIA to design 1-to-1, full scale
surfaces of the specifi c part. We prepare
a full-scale parametric surface model and,
based on this model, we include several
design options. For example, if we have
a parametric surface model used for a
winglet, we design 10 to 20 options. Then
we scale the surface design down to fi t
the wind tunnel model and import them
into the part model. By swapping out the
surfaces, we have a few options to test.
By using parametric models, it is possible
to design a huge amount of options within
a few days.
ED: How were the design choices/
decisions made along the way? Such
as the challenges that the design teams
3D PRINTING
faced and how these were resolved.
Hansen: The fi nal designs are based on
the results from the wind tunnel testing.
With the many design programs and
3D printing solutions at our disposal,
there really is no limit to the designs we
can create. We believe the production
should not limit the design; we adopt the
production to the design, not the design
to the production. That means we produce
many variations of the part designs.
ED: What materials may be used – and
can different materials be blended during
The 3D printing materials we
Do any 3D printed components go
Hansen: Yes – a variety of SLA and SLS
3D printed parts are used in the fi nal race
car. This includes cooling ducts, brake
ducts cooling inlets and tubing. The main
reason we used 3D Systems’ 3D printing
to create these fi nal parts is the design
fl exibility 3D printing affords and the short
lead times. The weather on the day of the
race, of course, impacts the aerodynamics
of the parts. For example, we create three
to fi ve variations of the brake duct cooling
inlet to accommodate different weather
and track conditions. We then take the
parts to the track and the day before the
race customise the car according to the
weather and track conditions.
New 3D Systems ProX 800 SLA 3D printers
installed at Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s
headquarters and engineering facilities in
Hinwil, Switzerland.
typically undergo
sandblasting, polishing
the process?
Hansen:
are using with the 3D Systems SLA
3D printer are Bluestone, Xtreme,
Accua HPC and, for SLS, Sauber’s own
carbon-reinforced powder, HiPAC. The
models used in the wind tunnel testing
include plastic and metal parts.
ED:
into the race car itself? If yes, which ones
and why?
Right: Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s
racecar rollhoop part for wind tunnel
testing model (produced on the
3D Systems ProX 800 SLA 3D
printerwith Xtreme material).
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