Röchling Automotive Is Shifting Gears to Make an Engine 35% Lighter

Engineering and manufacturing company Röchling Automotive was given an ambitious target by one of their automobile OEM customers: to reduce the weight of an engine by 35%. After partnering with Materialise to optimize, design, cast an aluminum inlet and print in plastic around the metal core, they are on their way to meeting this goal. They started with a core engine component that has already been optimized over decades, and both sides have worked together as one team to reach this ambitious target. Their technique was simple: they put material only where it was really needed and replaced heavier materials with lighter ones where possible.

Source: materialise