Restoration and Possible Upgrade of a Historical Motorcycle Part Using Powder Bed Fusion

Abstract

Reverse engineering is the process of creating a digital version of an existing part without any knowledge in advance about the design intent. Due to 3D printing, the reconstructed part can be rapidly fabricated for prototyping or even for practical usage. To showcase this combination, this study presents a workflow on how to restore a motorcycle braking pedal from material SS316L with the Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) technology. Firstly, the CAD model of the original braking pedal was created. Before the actual PBF printing, the braking pedal printing process was simulated to identify the possible imperfections. The printed braking pedal was then subjected to quality control in terms of the shape distortion from its CAD counterpart and strength assessments, conducted both numerically and physically. As a result, the exterior shape of the braking pedal was restored. Additionally, by means of material assessments and physical tests, it was able to prove that the restored pedal was fully functional. Finally, an approach was proposed to optimize the braking pedal with a lattice structure to utilize the advantages the PBF technology offers.

Quantification and Analysis of Residual Stresses in Braking Pedal Produced via Laser–Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing Technology

“…The braking pedal was developed based on the basis of a previous study conducted by the team. The Renishaw-AM400 3D printer (Renishaw plc., Great Britain, Wotton-under-Edge) used using PBF printing technology, and the printing parameters can be found in [23]. The manufacturing process and the strength testing procedure were extensively documented in the same paper.…”

“…A tensile test was performed on the original and recycled powder material of stainless steel 316L, revealing differences in the values of yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. Tensile tests were performed at room temperature and are shown in Figure 4 [23]. The data were taken from the average of five tests.…”

Advanced Support Structures in Metal Additive Manufacturing: A Comparative Analysis of Porous Media for Enhanced Part Quality and Removal Efficiency

“…To address this, the deviation can be scaled using a calibration sample, which also serves for Simufact Additive software simulations. [31] The combination of standard LS design in EN2243-1 and Simufact Additive software simulations can scale both detached force and part deviation with a special design called shear deviation (SD). This design closely mimics the behavior of support structures in L-PBF.…”

An approach for reverse engineering and redesign of additive manufactured spare parts

“…Furthermore, it enables on-demand and on-the-site distributed manufacturing, which enables the production of a spare part only when needed, close to where it is needed, removing the need for extensive inventories and complex supply chains (Khajavi et al, 2014). For example, Montero et al (2018) used 3D scanning and AM to manufacture the spare valve cover of an electric diesel generator, while Kudrna et al (2022) restored and upgraded the braking pedal of a historical motorcycle. Geng and Bidanda (2017) even talk about the concept of a "3D Copier", a machine that seamlessly integrates scanning and AM, enabling the replication of parts.…”