Sports car maker Bugatti (Molsheim, France) used SLM Solutions’ (Lübeck, Germany) metal additive manufacturing technology to produce automotive components. The components were manufactured in the aerospace alloy Ti6Al4V in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Additive Manufacturing Technologies (Fraunhofer IAPT; Hamburg, Germany) and Bionic Production (Lüneburg, Germany) on a SLM 500 selective laser melting system featuring four 400 W lasers.
A caliper test showed that additively produced metal components can cope with extreme strength, stiffness, and temperature requirements at speeds of over 375 km/h with a braking force of 1.35 g and brake disc temperatures up to 1100°C, says Frank Götzke, Head of New Technologies at Bugatti. The test also showed that a tensile strength of 1250 N/mm and a material density over 99.7% was achieved.