A group of students of Architecture Dept in the College of Engineering at Khalifa University designed and executed functional prototypes of custom bicycle frames, metal molds using carbon fibre, produced using full scale prints and also creating custom projects for aerospace design engineering using the BigRep One.
They had a variety of entry level desktop 3D printer, which paved the way for them to invest in a large-scale 3D printer. The team selected BigRep One as their first big volume printer. For the past year, the students have been using the machine for carbon fibre moulding, injection moulding of metal parts, heavy duty CNC machines to manufacture parts used for aerospace design, aerofoil testing, aerodynamics design etc, producing approximately 75 medium to big sized parts, printing 2-10 products for each project depending on the scope.
While the team are using PLA (Poly-Lactic Acid) plastic filament most commonly used in 3D printing, abrasion resistant TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) for most of the printing, they would like the option to use PETG thermoplastic polyester that is chemical resistant & durable and ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) for the more rigid parts. ABS is well known for its clean surface finish, durability and heat resistant.
Pradeep George from Khalifa University, commented, “We have been using BigRep One for the last one year and it turns out to be so useful in printing bigger moulds for carbon fibre part manufacture before making the moulds in metal. The printer is easy to handle and loads different filament types, but we use PLA more often and are satisfied with the print quality”.
If you want to talk to anyone on our team for BigRep, send an email to Prajakta.patil@jackys.com to see how it could work for you.
