Belarusian MAZ busy designing unmanned passenger shuttle for airports using 3D printing
16:56, 9 April
Photo: BelTA
Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ trademark) is developing a passenger unmanned shuttle for airports using 3D printing, BelTA learned from Director of the Science and Technology Center, Chief Designer of OAO MAZ Andrei Savchits at the roundtable session “Development of additive technologies in the Republic of Belarus” held as part of international specialized exhibitions at the Indoor Football Center in Minsk.
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Minsk Automobile Plant has a large-format 3D printer with a working field size of 4x1.5x1.7m. “The creation of prototypes using traditional methods takes up to three years as a rule: we design, manufacture, and produce parts. The period turns out to be quite lengthy because a great deal of time is spent specifically on manufacturing tooling. Our vehicles are large, the parts are huge, and the tooling for them also turns out to be bulky. Using modern equipment prototypes as an example, we endeavor to significantly reduce these timeframes, achieving a six-month cycle: we start designing and six months later we can already demonstrate a finished prototype,” explained Andrei Savchits.
One of the most significant examples of the use of the technology and the large-format printer is the unmanned passenger shuttle for airports currently being developed by the enterprise. The vehicle has no driver’s seat at all. “Using traditional technologies for such a task is complicated and costly. Using a 3D printer, at the stage when designers have already done their work, we design the structure itself and test strength aspects. We aim to create a monolithic structure that is printed in one go (or in two, depending on what the design allows). Seats, interior elements – all of this will be built into the structure. This way, we plan to ensure the necessary strength for passenger safety and the load-bearing capacity of the vehicle itself,” said the chief designer.
There are currently minor difficulties with strength calculations: traditional 3D design tools handle calculations involving metal elements well, but the variety of plastic materials is a new area. “We have conducted tests of structural elements, and the results are close to the calculated ones, but we do not yet have large-scale experience,” he said.
MAZ typically uses standard profiles to make passenger vehicles. “If structural plastic does not provide the required strength, we can always incorporate metal inserts: leave cavities and install additional metal elements in them during the printing stage,” Andrei Savchits pointed out.
