I would fall right off that bike in post 81. Wtf aero
just think of the high-speed nosewheelies...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si-bI84SZKA^^ Bastion Cycles gears up to launch custom 3D printed road bikes later this year
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150710-bastion-cycles-gears-up-to-launch-custom-3d-printed-road-bikes-later-this-year.htmlJuly 12, 2015
...Among others who have been exploring the applications of additive manufacturing with metals in their craft include Australia’s Bastion Bicycles, a new start-up consisting of three R&D engineers from Toyota Australia. Currently, the engineers are developing a system for producing custom, lightweight and performance-orientated road bicycle frames that use additive manufacturing to produce titanium lugs and spun carbon tubes.
While they aren’t the first bicycle maker to explore the possibilities of additive manufacturing in bicycle frame production, a recent agreement that they have with the nearby CSIRO Lab 22 (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) for using their state-of-the-art 3D printing facility is intended to help them streamline the process of bicycle customization.
“3D printing is really exciting. It allows complete customization by the user; the frame geometry and ride is fully customizable” says Dean McGeary, Bastion’s technical director.
“We’re putting ribs in the titanium (lugs); with this we can tune the compliance and stiffness of the bike. If you want a really compliant ride, we can take ribs out, if you want a stiff and aggressive bike, we add in ribs.”
Bastion’s first 3D printed bicycle model will be a disc brake-equipped road bike that will weigh approximately 850g and feature modern accessories including flat mount disc brakes and thru-axles. According to McGeary, the company will offer customers the ability to choose their bicycle frame’s stiffness and compare it to similar bicycles on the market - such as the Specialized Venge - through the use of an online tool.
Perhaps most importantly however, are the frame’s safety standards. According to McGeary, all of the frames that the company produces will be tested using the international standards of EN 14781 and ASTM F2711–08(2012). Additionally each frame will go through the company’s own rigorous testing process which includes an FEA (finite element analysis) analysis to ensure dependability before final approval from the customer.
“We’re hoping to go live toward the end of this year. We’ll be producing a wide range of bikes to do detailed testing on and once we’ve validated the design – we’ll go live with sales,” added McGeary.
After launch, the company is planning to deliver fully-assembled custom bicycles within four weeks of a customer’s order based on their specified measurements. Of course, the added customization doesn’t come cheap - the custom 3D printed bicycle frames will start at AU$7,000 - however the price does include a lifetime warranty and a crash replacement policy for individual parts.
http://www.bastion-cycles.com/index.html
this guy (seat post topper thing) has good in-depth updates, and good pictures... lots of detail/insight/trials/tribulation, plus it's bike-related...
http://pencerw.com/feedFirst EBM prints
http://pencerw.com/feed/2015/7/4/first-ebm-prints
2015.7.4
A few weeks ago I visited Addaero Manufacturing, one of the very few EBM (electron beam melting) service providers in the US. After my recent trials (and successes) with laser powder bed fusion, I wanted to try building parts with EBM. EBM is used extensively by aerospace and medical OEMs, but its penetration into the job shop world is way behind laser. Addaero, whose founders (Rich Merlino and Dave Hill) both worked at Pratt & Whitney before striking out on their own, is located just a few hours from New York City, and they were gracious enough to build two parts for me to evaluate the process.
I'll be writing up a longer post on the unique design considerations that EBM poses, but for now I wanted to share the pictures I took while there: ...
this one touches on quality control/porosity issues...
CT Scanning of 3D printed parts
http://pencerw.com/feed/2015/6/10/ct-scanning-of-3d-printed-parts
June 22, 2015
A few weeks ago I visited CIMP-3D by invitation of its co-director, Dr. Tim Simpson. I was there partly just to visit (I love these kinds of places), but also to see first-hand the role that CT scanning can play in non destructive testing of additively manufactured parts.
CIMP-3D is located at and operated by Penn State University, and serves as part of Penn State's Applied Research Lab - and as an Additive Manufacturing Demonstration Facility for DARPA. In aggregate, they help both government agencies and commercial partners qualify and improve parts made by powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition. In their well-equipped shop, they have two powder bed fusion machines: an EOS M280 (EOS calls their process "DMLS", a term that I continue to get flack for using generically and a 3DSystems ProX 200 (3DSystems calls their process, which was developed out of their 2013 acquisition of Phenix Systems, "DMP" - for "direct metal printing). For their work on directed energy deposition, they also have an Optomec LENS MR-7 (a laser based powder deposition machine), and until recently had a Sciaky EBAM (a large scale wire fed electron beam welding machine, which had been sold just prior to my visit).
While I was excited in see their directed energy deposition machines, the real attraction was their GE phoenix v|tome|x m300 CT scanner. This machine is made by GE Measurement & Control division, which is part of GE's Oil & Gas business unit (it should be noted that I've done consulting for both M&C and O&G, though not for the people who make CT scanning equipment). CT scanners are *expensive* (close to $1M, depending on options), and are basically unheard of in private service providers. They can be used to analyze both the as-built form of a part (which will often deviate from the as-designed form significantly), and also any flaws (cracks and voids) which would make it unusable.
Before I visited CIMP-3D, Corey Dickman (an R&D Engineer there) was kind enough to print one of my seatmast toppers, in aluminum, on their EOS M280. It came out well, with only a small defect in the seatmast clamp area. Corey used some pretty clever support structures, tapering them in order to provide a balance between a solid grip on the plate on the one hand, and relatively low material usage on the other: ...
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marvins guts, purple ano...