Process för tillämpning av additiv tillverkning på Volvo Cars
Typ
Examensarbete på grundnivå
Program
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Westin, Eric
Abel, Oscar
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
This thesis study at Chalmers University of Technology is performed at the department of Mechanical Integration at Volvo Cars, Gothenburg. The purpose of the work is to develop an applied method for identifying when in time as additive manufacturing is a good tool from an economic perspective in a verification process. To achieve the goal of a well-functioning method based on well-founded facts, a deep dive into relevant manufacturing methods has been performed, from beginning to end.
Cost calculations for additive manufacturing have been analyzed together with the cost calculations that are currently used within Volvo Cars internally. These have been combined to obtain cost calculations that contain the most important parameters with the aim of generating a picture of the price that is comparable to the actual price. By highlighting the prominent parameters, a calculation is obtained that is user-friendly regardless of experience, the time required can therefore be minimized with the consequence that additional costs are minimized. An average personnel cost was then presented to demonstrate that it can be related to the price of additive manufacturing and thus get an indication of a time frame that is suitable for virtual verification. This was demonstrated by a calculation with the material PP and the SLS method on three different components obtained by Volvo Cars. The components have previously had central roles in verification processes where additive manufacturing has been the final solution to the verification process intended.
In addition to this, proposals for solutions that simplify the process of additive manufacturing have also been developed, following information on problems obtained after dialogue with employees at Volvo Cars. The solutions presented are based on simplifying the process with the consequence that additive manufacturing will become a more attractive and natural tool in the future.
The results obtained clearly illustrate what powerful tool additive manufacturing can be if it is used in the right way at the right time. Utilizing additive manufacturing can minimize both costs and precious time.