Customer: Motorcycle manufacturer
Industry: AUTOMOTIVE - PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION
Technology: innovatiQ TiQ 8 - industrial 3D printer
Material: PEEK CF (carbon fiber reinforced polyamide)

Introduction/challenge
A motorcycle manufacturer requires customized gearbox housings for new engine developments. Prototypes and functional samples of gearbox housings are required for the design in order to check the assembly of gears, shafts and bearings, to adjust the installation space and the interfaces to adjacent assemblies and to carry out a design evaluation with regard to wall thicknesses, fixing points and ease of servicing. Conventional production (milling/casting) would be too cost-intensive and would take several weeks.

For prototype construction, however, a dimensionally accurate, resilient housing is required that can be tested in advance. Changes to the design should be able to be implemented quickly and tested again. For a quick assessment and functional adjustment, the housings are printed in innovatiQ's TiQ 8 using the FDM process and the high-performance technical material PEEK CF. The industrial 3D printer from innovatiQ, stationed in the tool shop, is the ideal solution for fast and cost-effective in-house implementation.

Solution
The TiQ 8 industrial 3D printer is used to produce customized gearbox housings:

• Process: FDM printing with PEEK CF, low weight, very good dimensional stability, high temperature resistance.
• Design freedom: Integration of rib structures and cooling channels that would be difficult or impossible to realize in conventional production.
• Agility: changes to the CAD model can be immediately implemented in new print jobs → iteration time reduced from weeks to a few days.

Result

• Production time: Reduction from several weeks to 72 hours until the first functional housing.
• Cost savings: Over 70% lower manufacturing costs compared to conventional CNC machining for individual parts.
• Load test passed: The printed housings withstood the demands of the test environment - including torque load, vibration and oil resistance.
• Quick adaptability: Several design changes could be implemented and retested within a few days.

Benefits

• Shorter time-to-market: Development cycles in motorcycle construction are significantly accelerated.
• Design flexibility: Topology optimizations possible that reduce weight and increase stability.
• Small series production conceivable: Not only suitable for prototypes, but also for limited series or spare parts.
• Strengthening innovative strength: Manufacturers can react more quickly to market requirements and test innovations in a practical manner.

Conclusion
The use of industrial 3D printing for the gearbox housing in motorcycle construction impressively demonstrates how additive manufacturing is revolutionizing prototype construction and testing: shorter development times, reduced costs and new degrees of freedom in design.

Print example: Gearbox housing

Printer: innovatiQ TiQ 8

Material: PEEK CF