The NextGenerationSpaceframe 2.0 project by Siemens and EDAG was presented today at Hannover Messe and is set to significantly streamline the integration of modular AM elements in automotive production via digital twin. Last year at Hannover Messe (where Siemens plays at home), the German giant had presented a number of key application cases for automotive manufacturing and beyond, including a very fascinating one with Bugatti.

Now the company is diving deepr into the economics of automotive production. In this sense, the support of EDAG can be of great importance to Siemens, as the German studio is one of the very first to truly envision and push the boundaries of what could be achieved in terms of optimized, biomimicry, generatively designed structures in the automotive industry. Now Siemens is intensifying its cooperation EDAG in order to further promote industrial applications of additive manufacturing (AM) and to make engineering and production processes more efficient.

The collaborative project is based on an intelligent modular system features a combination of bionically designed and additive manufactured nodes and high-strength, energy-absorbing aluminum extrusion profiles. The concept offers extremely flexible manufacturing, enabling it to support the growing number of vehicle derivatives while still taking economic aspects into account.

Constellium, Concept Laser in use case

In Hanover, Siemens is presenting the first steps in the process for successfully implementing this transformation using a digital twin. As well as the actual printing, this includes the industrialization of the entire AM production chain with all subsequent process steps. In the future, scalable modules will be created to pave the way from small series through to mass production.

The collaboration has now been extended by a seamless digital engineering process chain for AM resulting in the implementation of a use case. The project result, which will be presented at the Hannover Messe 2019, was led by EDAG and Siemens together with Constellium, Fraunhofer IAPT, Concept Laser and BLM. It shows a flexibly manufactured lightweight aluminum structure – “NextGenSpaceframe 2.0” as an automotive use case for Siemens.

NextGenerationSpaceframe 2.0:

• Shorter “time-to-market” for additive manufactured prototypes and small series components for automotive or industrial applications due to a digital engineering process chain.
• Industrie 4.0 philosophy: the combination of 3D printed aluminum car body nodes with high-strength, energy-absorbing aluminum extrusion profiles combined as highly flexible “on-demand” manufacturing with 3D bending and jigless joining technology for automotive and industrial applications.
• Calculations and actual tests demonstrated that the crash areas can absorb the crash energy as predicted and the AM node did not fail structurally.
• The costs for AM could be reduced by optimizing the process and minimizing the support structure.
• The seamless engineering data process chain has contributed to significantly shorter development and lead times, as well as ensuring a higher level of development maturity.

Driving industrialization of AM

The know-how provided by the EDAG Group in the field of production processes made a significant contribution to the collaboration. Tailored future factory concepts have been created, enabling the components developed for additive manufacturing to also be produced efficiently in larger batches and transferred to actual series production. An important factor in the success of the project is the competence that Siemens brings for factory automation and digitalization with knowledge from their own manufacturing applications for gas turbines (Finspang and Worchester UK) as well as the know-how provided by EOS GmbH in the field of process technology of additive manufacturing.

Siemens and EDAG share the goal of building on their respective strengths as project-specific partners and positioning themselves as service provides in the future market for the industrial introduction of additive manufacturing for their respective customers.