Case study · Automotive & motorsport
General Motors: vapor smoothing for automotive production
General Motors added a spoiler closeout seal to its 2022 full-size SUVs to improve aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, but the design change came late.
- Customer
- General Motors
- With
- GKN Additive (Forecast 3D), BASF Forward AM, HP
- Industry
- Automotive & motorsport
- Application
- Spoiler closeout seals for 2022 full-size SUVs
- Printing
- HP Multi Jet Fusion
- Material
- BASF Ultrasint TPU01
- Finishing
- PostPro vapor smoothing
- Published
A late design change
GM needed 60,000 parts made quickly or risk delaying the delivery of 30,000 vehicles to dealerships. Its additive manufacturing team recommended HP Multi Jet Fusion, which produced a 3D-printed sample comparable to its injection-molded counterpart in function and appearance.
The supply chain
GM selected GKN Additive (Forecast 3D), which had supplied 3D-printed parts to GM before, either directly or through a tier-one supplier. Two more suppliers completed the chain: BASF Forward AM with Ultrasint TPU01 thermoplastic polyurethane powder, and AMT with PostPro vapor smoothing for the finish.
Results
General Motors on video
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How General Motors Scaled 3D Printing with Vapor Smoothing | AMT PostPro Case Study
General Motors' spoiler closeout seals: HP MJF parts in TPU, vapor smoothed on a PostPro SF100 to seal them and give them rubber-like properties.
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