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World engineering agency Renishaw’s metallic 3D printing has helped Nice Britain’s bike owner Matthew Richardson break the world report twice within the UCI Males’s Elite 200m Flying Begin.
Competing on the Konya Velodrome in Turkey, Richardson stopped the clock at 8.941 seconds changing into the primary rider in historical past to dip underneath 9 and eclipsing the earlier world report of 9.088 held by Dutch sprinter Harrie Lavreysen. Lower than 24 hours later, he went quicker nonetheless, decreasing the mark to eight.857 seconds.
Richardson rode a bespoke Hope HB.T observe bike fitted with Renishaw’s 3D printed metallic dash handlebars, observe cranks, and a twin seat submit. These elements have been engineered for optimum stiffness, effectivity, and a rider-specific match, permitting him to take care of peak energy whereas holding an aerodynamic place at speeds over 50 mph (80.5 km/h).
Working with British Biking’s engineering crew, the corporate used metallic AM to supply elements tailor-made to Richardson’s match and efficiency wants, delivering stiffness, effectivity and low weight in shapes typical machining couldn’t obtain.
Breaking information with precision engineering
Past Richardson’s achievements, different riders additionally benefited from the engineering agency’s AM experience. In accordance with The Producer, Will Bjergfelt drew on the identical know-how to set a brand new Males’s C5 UCI Hour Report, masking 51.471 km in 60 minutes.
Moreover, teammate Charlie Tanfield tried the Hour Report, reaching 53.967 km in need of Filippo Ganna’s 2022 benchmark of 56.791 km, however nonetheless among the many strongest distances recorded.
These record-breaking performances have been supported by years of engineering improvement, with Renishaw’s AM contributing to the creation of Olympic-ready observe bikes. In 2019, Renishaw partnered with Lotus Engineering and Hope Expertise to develop the Hope Lotus HB.T observe bike for Crew GB. Utilizing the RenAM 500M LPBF system, engineers first produced plastic prototypes to refine match and type, then created a number of metallic iterations that have been examined in wind tunnels.
Developed to be used within the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Renishaw additionally 3D printed tooling for carbon fiber elements, enabling quicker manufacturing, aerodynamic optimization, and light-weight efficiency enhancements that knowledgeable subsequent Olympic-ready bikes.
Extra lately, the impression of Renishaw’s work was felt extensively on the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games, the place Crew GB gained eight medals on the observe. Making ready 32 bikes for competitors, Renishaw produced greater than 1,000 titanium elements utilizing its RenAM 500Q four-laser 3D printer.
These included cranks, dropouts, seat keep bridges and a novel aerodynamic seat submit designed with a hole heart to channel airflow. Every bit was custom-made to the riders, with weight shaved away whereas preserving the power and stiffness wanted for Olympic racing.
For British Biking, the usage of metallic 3D printing was as a lot about timing as efficiency. With improvement schedules compressed by the COVID-delayed Tokyo Video games, AM supplied the pace and adaptability to ship bespoke elements with out the tooling delays of conventional strategies.
That capability to adapt shortly proved decisive in Paris, the place each fraction of a second mattered.
Additive manufacturing shapes elite bikes
3D printing is reshaping bicycle manufacturing by enabling quicker improvement, versatile manufacturing, and rider-specific customization. These benefits are driving rising adoption of the know-how throughout the trade.
AM supplies developer Elementum 3D and TRUMPF teamed up with INTENSE Cycles to rethink the spine of its M1 downhill race bike. The crew adopted AM with Elementum 3D’s weldable A6061-RAM2 alloy, enabling an inner rib construction that elevated power whereas lowering weight.
TRUMPF’s TruTops Print software program constructed on this by lowering downskin necessities from 45° to 25°, a change that lower materials use and eased post-processing. The printed spine slotted seamlessly into INTENSE’s aluminum frames, and the consequence proved itself on the observe when the bike completed second on the 2023 UCI Biking World Championships.
Elsewhere, Shiny Laser Applied sciences (BLT) partnered with bicycle producer Titan Tremendous Bond to supply Asia’s first totally 3D printed titanium alloy bicycle body. Utilizing the BLT-A320 system, Titan Tremendous Bond additionally printed handlebars and head tubes, capitalizing on titanium’s power, mild weight, corrosion resistance, and sturdiness.
The body design improved energy switch, maneuverability, and shock absorption, whereas metallic AM ensured 0.03 mm precision. In accordance with the corporate, the method lower manufacturing cycles by 30%, lowered materials prices by greater than 20%, decreased labor calls for, and set the stage for future automation.
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Featured picture exhibits British bike owner Matthew Richardson and the Hope HB.T observe bike with Renishaw 3D printed elements. Photograph through SWpix.