Sika Automotive uses German RepRap 3D printing to speed up product development

3D printer manufacturer, German RepRap has unveiled how Sika Automotive leveraged its technology to speed up the product development process for functional structural components.
Sika Automotive specializes in bonding, sealing, damping and reinforcing technologies for vehicles, providing strong and lightweight chassis components to OEMs. In a recent pilot project, the company developed a plastic part to be installed in the lower A-pillar and B-pillar towards the front of a premium vehicle. The component is a complex shape made from robust polyamide and SikaBaffle, an elastic material which is printed at the edges of the component and expands during an e-coating procedure during assembly, to give the component its sealing and attenuating properties.