The commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus needed MAN 10 bronze manifolds, which are used in the cooling water supply of a marine engine. A casting mold was no longer available for this part.
According to MAN, producing a new casting would have been very time-consuming and expensive. Instead, together with the 3D printing service provider Replique, production using selective laser melting was chosen. The material used was the lead-free bronze material m4p Brz10.
It took just 7 weeks from the inquiry to delivery of the ready-to-install parts. Tests revealed even better material properties than the original part. According to MAN, this made it possible to provide spare parts in OEM quality at short notice, without high upfront costs.
MAN sees advantages in 3D printing production, especially for small batch sizes in the after-sales area. Time and cost benefits can therefore be achieved through demand-oriented procurement. Further joint 3D printing projects with Replique are already planned.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
3DPresso is a weekly newsletter that links to the most exciting global stories from the 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry.
