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Titanium 3D-printed wheel provides a glimpse of the future
Electron Beam Melting involves shining a laser beam into a bed of titanium powder, selectively melting that powder to create fine successive layers of solid material that are fused together to form a single object. All the powder that isn't melted can still be used for subsequent builds. By contrast, when parts are machined out of a solid block of titanium, much more of the material ends up being wasted. Once the five main sections of the wheel were printed, temporary support structures within them (which were necessary for the printing process) were removed by hand for recycling. The facing surfaces of the sections were then minimally machined, in order to ensure that they would fit together snugly. The tops of the spokes were subsequently hand-brushed, after which a cleaning process removed any oils or remaining powder. Finally, a center piece was utilized to join the five sections together, with titanium fasteners being used to mount everything within a carbon fiber rim barrel. Called the HRE3D+, the finished wheel was unveiled earlier this month at the Formnext trade show in Frankfurt, Germany. "This is an incredibly exciting and important project for us as we get a glimpse into what the future of wheel design holds," says HRE President Alan Peltier. "Working with GE Additive's AddWorks team gave us access to the latest additive technology and an amazing team of engineers, allowing us to push the boundaries of wheel design beyond anything possible with current methods." Source: HRE Wheels
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