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3D Printed Inlet Duct

sprinks

Drag Racing Champion
Location
United States
Apples and oranges, really. If we're talking metal bits, I can appreciate both the skill of a well welded bit of exhaust and the technical excellence of 3d printed metal intake manifolds. Obviously metal printing is out of the realm of possibility for a home user, but the machines I've used and seen used are truly state of the art.
 

gti_loki

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
How about some hot OEM plus looking action?
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AntErrickson

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
Car(s)
2016 VW GTI Autobahn
Thanks for the positive feedback!

I can't commit to pricing yet. If the part starts to sag due to heat (that is a coolant line running across the top of it after all) I will have to switch to a slightly more expensive material that's better suited to the heat. I also didn't have any on hand and I was to excited to order it and wait.

Right now, the raw material is ~$35 for one duct. Plus a 21-22 hour build time/setup. Build time (how long it takes to print) is what makes 3D printing so costly. I ran the part through Xometry.com (a great resource if you can make models) and it was ~$270-300. Obviously this is ridiculous and their pricing model is more aimed at prototypes for big companies than someone who wants a cheap part made.

I *think* that $150 should be do-able without making it unprofitable. But I need to run the duct for a little while before I'm confident in the material.

Have you looked into using your 3D piece to make a silicon mold, then making, I’m gonna say “resin” based piece.

I doubt resin would actually hold up. I’m not sure of the actual material needed to make that happen, but that would lower your cost and up your production. If you could figure out the material to actually mold out.
 

gti_loki

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
Why not use nylon 6 print material? it's basically the material glock lowers are made of.

As Sprinks said, pa6 (PA is polyamide aka Nylon) is not used in 3D printing, at least not often. The most common are PA11, PA12 and PA12 glass filled.
There are a bunch of variants and depending on print technology the mechanical properties vary wildly. For example, the HDT (temperature where the plastic softens enough it can’t support a load) of FDM PA12 is ~160-170F but SLS PA12 is 300F+
The “final” part I made is a PA alloy developed by Taulman. The native HDT is ~180F but annealed (as I did) is around 250F.
 

gti_loki

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
Have you looked into using your 3D piece to make a silicon mold, then making, I’m gonna say “resin” based piece.

I doubt resin would actually hold up. I’m not sure of the actual material needed to make that happen, but that would lower your cost and up your production. If you could figure out the material to actually mold out.

PU resins won’t withstand the heat needed for this. They’re also sort of flexible, even the “rigid” variants. But I like where your head is at!
 

sprinks

Drag Racing Champion
Location
United States

gti_loki

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
and that's exactly what i was thinking. as for someone mentioning resin/mold, it'd be easiest probably to make a fiberglass mold and start making it from carbon fiber prepreg (of all things), that is if you were thinking to make high fidelity/high reproducibility version from the 3D mold.

Easiest being relative lol
It could be adjusted for injection molding (it would need to be 2 parts) but the initial investment would be quite substantial. But that would produce the most realistic part prices. There’s a reason the 034 carbon fiber unit is $660. Injection molded would probably be $10-15/ unit at high quantity.
 

gti_loki

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
You basically covered it. Flange size, filter size and tubing.
Ah! The tube is 4” at the filter with a nice radius and as gentle a curve into the 3” stock tube as I could make and clear the mounting screw.
 

ITGUY

Autocross Newbie
Location
PA
Without knowing what he's using to print exactly other than a filament printer, Nylon 6 has more technical demands from printing and is less likely to be filament printed.

Nylon 6 and 12 both come in filament so I don't know where you got that information from. You'll need a printer with a very hot end but it is usable in a filament printer.
 
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