On October 18, 2021, the Additive Manufacturing Alliance of China held a symposium on high-quality development of additive manufacturing industry chain during the “2021 Additive Manufacturing Development Wuhu (Fanchang) Summit Forum and China Additive Manufacturing Industry Annual Conference” in Wuhu, Anhui Province. WANG Baitang, marketing director of UnionTech, attended the symposium as an enterprise representative and delivered a speech. Mr. GAO Xingbin, director of UnionTech North District BU, attended the seminar on “Innovative Application and Future Development Trend of Additive Manufacturing Technology in Automotive Field” and delivered an important speech.
At the forum, it was pointed out that the main advantage of 3D printing for automotive enterprises is that it breaks through the design limitation of products, greatly shortens the product development cycle, and greatly reduces the research and development cost, synchronizes the development and improves the reliability of new products. 3D printing can realize various designs and functional verifications ranging from automotive interior to tire, air conduit, covers, aerodynamic model, cylinder, cylinder cover, fuel system, shell and so on. It can print the prototype very quickly without developing molds. The developers can find problems through the static analysis of 3D printed pieces and the installation of real vehicles, and then communicate with structural design engineers to optimize the structural design of parts, improve the strength and manufacturability of parts, simplify the structure of parts, verify the feasibility of technical structure and enhance the maturity of products.
UnionTech began to apply 3D printing technology in the automotive industry in 2003. The customer groups for application of additive manufacturing technology in the automotive field are mainly divided into two categories: first, the main engine plants, among which JAC, BYD, GAC, Jiangling and other automotive engine plants have purchased UnionTech 3D printers to participate in the R&D process. For example, Chery Shanghai R&D Center has purchased UnionTech large-format 3D printer G1400 for prototype verification. Others are automobile supporting manufacturers, who hasve extensively used our SLA equipment to provide related products for OEMs. In the future, the mainstream 3D printing industry must develop to provide overall solutions that integrate high-performance materials, automatic intelligent equipment, application process and industrial platform. The R&D based on material application is still the most urgent topic at present. UnionTech is carrying out targeted cooperative R&D in collaboration with BASF, Evonik, Covestro, Adaptive3D, Liqcreate, Synthetic, etc. It is hoped that breakthroughs in materials will usher in the all-round development of 3D printing industry.
Mr. LI Siwen, executive deputy general manager of Chungu 3D Printing Institute of Intelligent Equipment and Industrial Technology, mentioned that as early as 2003, JAC had purchased UnionTech 3D printers for automobile R&D and trial production. Thanks to the advanced 3D printing technology, the development efficiency of JAC’s new products has been greatly improved, which not only saves labor, but also ensures the timeliness of new products to the greatest extent. Meanwhile, Chungu has also purchased UnionTech 3D printers, which boast excellent performance, quality and stability.
