Description
3D printing in vehicle maintenance
3D printing has been in professional use in industry for many years and enables a wide variety of products. Since the first commercially available 3D printer in 1988, which was based on the laser sintering process, a lot has changed to today’s methods and processes. The generic term for all this is the so-called “additive processes”, in which components are built up layer by layer.
Deutsche Bahn and all its suppliers also produce spare parts from metal and plastic using 3D printing. This can drastically shorten delivery times in particular. “In this way, we can ensure a better supply of spare parts and make the vehicles available to our passengers again more quickly. In particular, we are talking about parts that are associated with long delivery times or would no longer be available at all,” says Stefanie Brickwede (Project Manager 3D Printing DB).
