Printing air filters for cars

Hello there,

I have a couple of questions about 3d printing and since I am new to this industry, I was wondering if I could get some answers from professionals. I am planing on buying the equipment for printing the plastic part of the air filters for cars. This is how they look like: http://tuningshop24.ru/media/files/KN-33-2980-big.jpg . How achievable is this? What equipment (printer, scanner, software) should I choose? Are there any tricks I should be aware of?

Thank you so much for your help in advance!!

qualpan,

That is a pretty simple shape. You should just model it up in a cad program.

Any standard FFF printer should be able to make it.

What material will you print it out of? You must know the requirements - what temperature does it have to withstand without degrading?

Size too. You'll need a printer with a large enough print volume for the part to fit, I've seen some sizable filters out there.

And as Davo said, Temps were my first concern. This stuff gets soft at relatively low temps.

You'll need filament with a glass transition temperature high enough that it won't get soft at the temperatures under the hood of a car. The highest I'm aware of is polycarbonate. You'll need a printer with an all-metal hot end capable of reaching temperatures of 300C to print it; something like the E3D (not the lite version).

Not for an airfilter part though. That doesn't get hot a) its not directly mounted on the engine and b) the air flow through it keeps temps down. Most car plastic parts are made from ABS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sebastian Finke

Not for an airfilter part though. That doesn't get hot a) its not directly mounted on the engine and b) the air flow through it keeps temps down. Most car plastic parts are made from ABS.

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Under the hood, a car can reach temperatures of 200F in summertime stalled traffic. Pumping air through the filter will cool the box somewhat, but 3D-printed ABS is simply not going to be able to withstand the temperatures involved. Do you have a source for ABS parts under the hood? Trim parts, yes, but my understanding is the nylon is the default for parts actually inside the engine bay.

My apologies, you are correct.

What are the dimensions?

Hyrel prints 8x8x8" with default heads in ABS and Taulman's 618, 910 and T-Glase, and with the high-temp head we print in polycarbonate (testing PEEK next week).