Blessed nylon. Since this artificial polymer was patented by DuPont in 1938, he hasn’t done more than solve us (requiring no ironing!) life. Now Bristol engineers have developed a new way to create as strong as steel nylon, a method of manufacturing that could revolutionize British manufacturing, as did the other Nylon with the American more than 70 years ago. The first object that have submitted is a bike so light and so resistant that amazes by his way of making both your line: using 3D printing. Chris Turner and Andy Hawkins, development in the Aerospace Innovation Centre in Bristol (UK) engineers, are responsible. The process that has been used to create the bicycle is what this aerospace cluster has been using to make parts of satellites and Airbus aircraft; It is capable of producing very complicated by printing structures and merge the cross sections of a tenth of a millimeter of depth to build parts in three dimensions.
Is It is called additive manufacturing (ALM) layered process and is basically very simple. Take a 3D object, which can be the seat of the bicycle, and cut into thousands of slices 2D. Print wedges in nylon and are then stacked to make an entire object. Everything starts from a powder heated nylon to 177 degrees C, about to melt. A laser traces the outline of the shape in 2D, melting into layers that powder. Then add another layer of 0.1 mm thick nylon powder and laser blows again it. Little by little, the object takes shape. Since everything is surrounded by dust, you can create solid objects in space, in other words, moving parts.
In fact bike has bearings, crankshaft, and wheels that spin, without additional parts.Engineers have reduced the bike about a dozen parties, which then joined together to create a machine finish trendy, but call to crush the road with its resistance. Although the bike is being promoted as as strong as steel, it is true that you one does not You can though doubt whether embarking on Tomb opened with the first prototype. It is the same thing that would think the first one that was hung from a building with a nylon rope to test its resistance. But the important thing here is the new manufacturing process. The real breakthrough is that the ALM print breaks the barrier between the designer and the manufacturing workshop. Design of parts using lathes, foundry, machining in Exchange is no longer necessary, the designer only is based on a 3D computer program and ALM machine prints you the product. And beyond of a bike it will be possible to make parts of the wing of a plane with hollow frame incorporated, saving weight and material. Even an F1 engine.Why then start with a simple bike? The proyecto-bici arose after the North West Aerospace Alliance, one of the world most recognized engineering associations, feel frustrated of not being able to adequately explain the process to anyone more than to other engineers or specialists. One of the creators stated in an interview for the BBC which I wanted to show my mother what I do at work and really didn’t understand it. But everyone knows what is a bicycle. It certainly seems to have been explained very well.