Fast and wear-resistant

Custom-made component made using the igus® 3D print service

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What was needed: plastic pinion for engine tuning
Manufacturing process: igus® 3D printing service
Requirements: short delivery time, robustness, wear resistance
Material: iglidur® I6
Industry: automotive
Success from the collaboration: faster special part printing (less than 72 hours) for a small number of pieces, little design effort, component turning and machining no longer necessary. The component is also reliable thanks to its robustness

Inspired by the Formula 1, the student teams of the "Formula Student Germany" construction competition compete with each other. For constructing their racing cars, the Formula Student Team from Weingarten near Ravensburg needed customised plastic pinions, among other things. These are used as chain tensioners in the chain drive. Unfortunately, pinions in special sizes have long delivery times and the classic production with machining is time-consuming. Here, the 3D printing service by igus® was able to provide quick help and produced the plastic pinions in less than 72 hours.

Fast delivery thanks to online configurator and laser sintering procedure

Designers not only save time, because the online configurator makes it easy to construct a digital 3D model. Special parts are manufactured using the so-called SLS process (selective laser sintering). A coater spreads an extremely thin layer of plastic powder on a building platform. The printer then uses a laser to fuse the powder wherever the component is to be produced according to the 3D model. The platform is then lowered by the thickness of a layer and the process starts again. After a few hours the sprocket is fully printed. Thanks to the 3D printing, the usual turning and machining with the corresponding drawing department are eliminated," explains Richy Göser of the Weingarten Formula Student Team.

"Probably the production with the 3D printer is also more economical in small quantities."

3D printed: Custom made plastic pinions made of wear-resistant iglidur® material

Robust components made of tribopolymers

For use as a chain tensioner in the chain drive of the motor, the pinion must be very tough. Here, too, the iglidur® tribopolymers demonstrate their strengths compared to ordinary polymers. The high-performance plastics were developed by igus® specifically for dynamic applications in the industry. In this case, the iglidur® I6 was used, which is more resistant to wear than common plastics for laser sintering printing. The wear resistance of this material was tested in the in-house test laboratory. The experts tested a worm wheel with 5 Nm torque and 12 rpm. The gear made of polyamide 12, a classic material for laser sintering printing, stopped after only 521 cycles due to the high coefficient of friction. The iglidur® I6, on the other hand, showed only minor wear even after a million cycles and was fully functional. "Such tests show us that we can rely on the material," says Göser. "The previously used ball bearings in the chain drive held barely more than 20 kilometres - which is unsatisfactory because our longest race is 22 kilometres long. We expect much more robustness from the 3D printed sprockets from igus® in the 2019 season."

Buy laser sintering material iglidur I6 online

Formula Student racing cars with customised plastic pinions made of iglidur® high-performance polymers

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