JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #118 - January/February 2018 - 33

Additive manufacturing applications in sporting goods production

collapsible core or a cast washout
mandrel, making it cost prohibitive to
manufacture. Additive manufacturing
enables the luge team to create complex athlete-specific sled geometries
in a fraction of the time and at a lower
cost than traditional tooling methods.

Fig. 2: Image of a
Utah Trikes recumbent
trike frame during
assembly showing
where FDM parts and
fixtures are used

U.S. Luge Team
The U.S. Olympic Luge Team produces custom fiberglass sleds for their
athletes to help them compete at the
highest levels. However, composite
mold tooling typically takes weeks or
even months to procure and is often
cost prohibitive for low-volume manufacturing. Additive manufacturing
offers the US Luge Team a range of

solutions that typically reduce the lead
time and cost associated with traditional composite tooling.
The US Luge team used Stratasys FDM
technology to produce composite
mold tooling for the entire luge sled. A
sacrificial (washout) tooling material,
ST-130, was used to produce the complex tower geometry that is specially
contoured to the athletes legs and
acrylic-styrene-acrylonitrile
(ASA)
was used to create a low-temperature
layup tool for the 1.37m sled base.
Fabrication of the tower structure
would traditionally require a complex

Fig. 3: U.S. Olympic luge team on their
custom composite sled

N°118 January - February 2018

More information :
www.stratasys.com

/ jec composites magazine

Feature Sports and leisure

of design and manufacturing.
Throughout the product development
cycle, the ability to quickly produce
functional prototypes for product testing allows Utah Trikes to design new
products faster.
On the manufacturing floor, the nearly
infinite design freedom coupled with
the high strength, high stiffness, and
durability of FDM materials allows
Utah Trikes to manufacture custom
jigs, fixtures, and other assembly aides
to simplify production. Utah Trikes has
even found the FDM Nylon 12CF material to be strong and durable enough
for custom production parts on their
trikes, as depicted in Figure 2. Additive
manufacturing gives Utah Trikes the
ability to customize their products in
a whole new way while simultaneously
reducing manufacturing costs and
bringing new designs to market faster.

Summary
The US Luge Team and Utah Trikes
are just two examples where additive
manufacturing is impacting the
sporting goods industry. Across nearly
all industries; aerospace, defense,
automotive and sporting goods, additive manufacturing is enabling more
efficient design, manufacturing, and
customization. That said, whether for
production parts or tooling applications, additive manufacturing will not
necessarily replace conventional manufacturing methods, nor is that the intent. In most cases, the greatest results
are achieved by implementing additive
manufacturing in a manner that complements conventional technologies,
combining methods to capitalize on
the strengths of each while avoiding
many of the limitations. As previously
indicated, as athletes evolve so must
our manufacturing processes. Recent
advancements in material capabilities,
throughput, and the development
of new applications are positioning
FDM as the next evolution in custom
fabrication.
For more case studies, design guides
and general information on FDM tooling, prototyping, and production parts,
head over to the Stratasys website.

http://www.stratasys.com http://www.jeccomposites.com/mediakit

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #118 - January/February 2018