We at Graphite love all things fast and furious and are delighted to supply a number of the leading Moto GP, Moto 2 and Moto 3 teams with high-performance 3D printed parts. We have supported a wide range of teams building light-weight, functional parts. We were delighted to get a call recently from Race Engineer and entrepreneur Philip Stiles. We have worked with Philip on a number of projects and when we met for a catch up one sunny evening in April, he explained why Graphite AM has been so beneficial to him and his customers; ‘The speed of manufacture is one thing, but I can now get parts that look like they have been manufactured by a Tier 1 OEM and supply them to my customers within a week of placing the order. Working with Graphite AM allows me to amend designs as we go and prototypes can be produced in a matter of days. I can then test them, amend designs and measure performance. A development cycle that used to take months can now be completed within a week’. The latest part we have built for Philip has been manufactured using our popular Graphite filled SLS. ‘By in-filling our SLS Nylons with microscopic Graphite particles, strong functional parts can be produced quickly that are functional and durable with enhanced mechanical properties,’ Jonathan Warbrick, Business Development Manager, Graphite AM. SLS uses a high-powered laser that sinters a fine layer of powder, before the process is repeated, allowing parts with complex geometries to be built in one piece. The rapid pace of development in Moto GP is similar to F1 without the secrecy and paranoia. As there are often several teams running similar set-ups, knowledge is openly shared to help some of the smaller teams take on the big factory teams. We have seen demand rise in almost all the materials and technologies we run at Graphite AM but in particular Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). SLS build’s strong functional parts fit for purpose. By infilling Nylon with reinforced high performance materials like Carbon Fibre and Graphite, parts with complicated geometries can be produced cost-effectively in low volumes with impressive mechanical properties. When the 3D Printing is understood as early in the design cycle as possible, the freedom offered by Additive Manufacturing allows for assemblies that were once built in multi-sections to be printed in one piece reducing downstream assembly time. ‘Philip has long understood the manufacturing process and it is a pleasure to work with him on his latest projects,’ Jonathan explains. With Philips know-how, his design capabilities and experience, whatever he turns his hand to will be a success and we at Graphite AM are keen to support him all the way. For any technical enquires please call on 01296 482673
