Bionic algorithms were also used to optimize the entire structure, resulting in a cleaner overall design and a finished bike that weighs 30 percent lighter than other eBikes now in production.
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The Light Rider is, admittedly, smaller than your typical Airbus vehicle, but before the aerospace giant 3D prints half its future airplane fleet, this 3D printed motorcycle, unveiled today in Ottobrunn, Germany, demonstrates just why Airbus and APWorks have so much faith in the potential of Scalmalloy.
According to APWorks, which made the bike, Light Rider in itself weighs only 13 pounds, excluding its 6 kW electric motor. (This sounds a lot like laser sintering, a common method for 3D printing on an industrial scale.) The end product was a series of parts made up of a lot of extremely thin-as in 60 microns thin-layers.
A closer look at the frame shows that it resembles an “organic exoskeleton”, and that is no mere coincidence.
‘With these technologies, the limitations facing conventional manufacturing disappear, ‘ he added. That was a very deliberate design goal for APWorks, which programmed the algorithm to use bionic structures and natural growth processes and patterns as the basis for developing a strong but lightweight structure.
APWorks has worked at the forefront of additive layer manufacturing (ALM) and advanced materials since its launch in 2013. An electric motorcycle made from tiny aluminum alloy particles using a 3D printer.
“This new manufacturing process really opened the design space and allowed for part geometries that would be impossible with traditional machining or casting methods”, said David Eddleman, a member of the 3D printing team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., in a press release.
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APWorks’ says that Scalmalloy, its proprietary material, is a corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy with titanium-grade resistance. However, if there is one downside to the Light Rider, it is its price.
