Car shows 3-D printer abilities

  • Published
  • By Bud Cordova
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  What happens when classic style and need for speed meets modern technology? A car that captures the iconic design of early racecars and it's eco-friendly.

June 8-10 the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History hosted a 3-D-printed Shelby Cobra 1960's era sports car created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Almost everything on the classic body is 3-D printed, save things like the wheels and brakes.

Using a revolutionary technique, the car was created with additive design.

"Additive design is adding the materials together to get what you want, unlike traditional manufacturing, where you cut away material to get what you needed," said museum Director Jim Walther.

He said the traditional process leads to wasted material. While it could be recycled, it is still waste material.

The Shelby Cobra displayed at the museum is 3-D printed using 20 percent carbon fiber reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene; a thermoplastic that is malleable when heated and hardens when cooled called ABS.

The two materials combined help make the car impact-resistant.

The car also uses battery power and has electric motors behind the back wheels.

"You could probably get 150 miles out of the battery, so maybe a day or two of driving," Walther said.

The car is not street-legal as it is only a design concept to test the process that was used to build it and it's cost effectiveness.

From design to finish the Shelby Cobra took six weeks to make. The parts needed to assemble the car took 24 hours to create with an additional eight hours to print the tools need to assemble the parts.

The car was brought to Albuquerque at the request of Sandia National Laboratories to demonstrate to staff and their community partners the revolutionary designing capabilities of 3-D printing. So the public would view it as well, the museum was asked to host the car for its two-day visit.

"We are honored to have it here. It's a very unique and an iconic car," Walther said.

Racing legend Carroll Shelby originally designed the Shelby Cobras. He used the body of European-designed AC Cars and installed a Ford V8 motor into them during the 60's.