CN/EN
CN/EN
Stratasys has announced that Team Penske, a motorsports team that has won championships in IndyCar Series competitions and NASCAR Cup Series, has purchased a new Neo800 stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer.
The system is the first SLA-based additive manufacturing system to be installed by Penske and will be used to rapidly print scale model components for aerodynamic testing.
“As additive manufacturing’s applications continue evolving in racing, Stratasys continues to help us rapidly improve race performance ahead of the competition so we can turn ideas into parts and get them onto the racetrack faster than ever before and with greater reliability than ever before,” said Matt Gimbel, Production Manager at Team Penske. “We can now make parts in ways not possible through traditional manufacturing.”
According to Penske, the open materials model for the Neo printers was a key benefit, along with the quality of the surface finish. The team also said that the ability to source material from any vendor gives the organisation maximum flexibility in material selection.
The 800 x 800 x 600 mm build volume of the Neo800 allows for printing of larger parts with less time spent sanding, sectioning and joining parts together for wind tunnel testing according to Team Penske.
“With over 500 wins, Team Penske’s commitment to excellence is unrivalled in the motorsports industry and achieving new heights of performance means constantly asking how things can be done better,” said Pat Carey, Senior Vice President of Commercial Development at Stratasys. “As one of their chief partners in additive manufacturing solutions, we are committed to providing more winning solutions tailored for the racing industry than anyone else in the industry so Team Penske can capture more checkered flags than any other racing organisation in the world.”
The partnership between Team Penske and Stratasys began in 2017. Stratasys has provided the team with a variety of FDM and PolyJet technology-based 3D printers for prototyping, tooling, fixturing, and end-use parts in cars and pit equipment.
Team Penske has won 38 national championships, including 17 in Indycar Series competition. The team recently produced single-season records of 40 victories and 45 pole positions in addition to three championships across its five series of competition around the globe. This year, it became the first team to win both the Nascar Cup Series and IndyCar Series Championship in the same season.
The McLaren F1 team also use Stratasys Neo800s to produce parts, and earlier this year said it was producing around 9,000 parts per year with the technology. The Neo range of SLA printers was integrated into Stratasys upon its acquisition of RPS last year.
