Discover our cases

Rethinking and Redesigning: Upgrading an Automotive Tool with Additive Manufacturing

After designers and engineers at Materialise recognized flaws in automotive drape forming, they took up the challenge to redesign a production tool with AM. 

Read more

To See a Song: Materialise Designers Turn Abstract Idea to Personalized Car Speaker Grill Design

This case dives into what can be achieved when the Materialise Design and Engineering team applies their extensive design and additive knowledge to an abstract idea. Read on to discover how they made it possible to see your favorite song and make it a centerpiece in your car. 

Read more

Röchling Automotive Is Shifting Gears to Make an Engine 35% Lighter

Engineering and manufacturing company Röchling Automotive was given an ambitious target by one of their automobile OEM customers: to reduce the weight of an engine by 35%. After partnering with Materialise to optimize, design, cast an aluminum inlet and print in plastic around the metal core, they are on their way to meeting this goal.

Read more

How Nissan Reduced Data Prep Time by 50%

Nissan uses 3D printing technology to create prototypes and experiment with new vehicle shapes. This involved a lot of manual work. Thanks to Materialise software, they managed to change the entire process and make it much more efficient. Data preparation time was reduced from months to seconds.

Read more

Thinking Additive: How Volvo Car Gent Has Reimagined Production Fixtures

Volvo Car Gent discovered that streamlining your supply of tools and fixtures can unlock savings, production headroom and more. This 3D-printed gluing jig combines all previous components in one fixture, weighs 64% less and can be delivered in only two weeks at nearly half the price of the previous jig.

Read more

3D-Printed Jigs and Fixtures with a 40% Weight Reduction

Experts in the industry agree that 3D printing jigs and fixtures can make an immediate impact on automotive companies. By relying on 3D printing technology, companies can improve their efficiency and heavily cut expenses. In addition, the reduction of the lead-time is significant.

Read more

The PEUGEOT FRACTAL Concept Car: 3D Printing Acoustic Interiors

PEUGEOT was in quest of the perfect concept car: a fully-electric urban coupé wrapped up in sleek aesthetics — but above all, it had to sound perfect. To create an anechoic chamber in the car’s interior, and maximize the effect of the sound system, PEUGEOT turned to laser sintering.

Read more

A Lightweight Battery Structure: Born to Race

At the biennial World Solar Challenge this year, where solar-powered race cars made by university students race an impressive 3,021 km across Australia, the Belgian team’s car had a whopping average speed of 90km/h. One of their secret weapons? An inventive battery structure.

Read more

Setting Wheels InMotion: 3D Printing Titanium Parts for an Electric Race Car

When you’re aiming to make the fastest electric car in the world, every bit of weight optimization matters: so we helped InMotion create lightweight 3D-printed wishbones for the suspension. Thanks to our Metal Printing Factory and software, InMotion is on its way to an ambitious goal.

Read more

Materialise Slicing Technology Enables Toyota’s Lightweight Car Seat

Toyota wanted to produce a lightweight car seat prototype with minimal volume and an optimal heat capacity. Not only was it challenging to design, but working with such a large file size was tough too. Fortunately, Toyota had Materialise’s engineering team and software expertise to work with.

Read more

The Areion by Formula Group T: The World’s First 3D Printed Race Car

How fast can 3D Printing (and stereolithography in particular) go? The answer, according to the 2012 Formula Group T team, is - more than 140 km/h!

Read more