3D Printing
News Contact us Seen on social
Home / Use Cases / How Delft Hyperloop has Embraced 3D Printing

How Delft Hyperloop has Embraced 3D Printing

July 1, 2021

3D printing is great for prototypes, and there is probably nothing more prototype-y than the Hyperloop.

The Hyperloop concept was dreamed up a few years ago by Elon Musk as a potential (open source) solution to mass transportation of people, offering an efficient and fast alternative to short hop flights.

To this end, Musk launched the Hyperloop Pod Competition to spur innovation a little and demonstrate certain aspects of the Hyperloop idea, at smaller scales.

The contest ran from 2015-2019 and saw multiple commercial and academic teams put forth designs for their own Hyperloop pods. In the first phase of the contest, the team from TU Delft in the Netherlands took second place, being beaten at the post by the MIT team.

Building upon that and continuing with their design even though the contest has ended, the Delft team has been employing a range of AM technologies to help bring their design into reality.

Let’s take a look at what TU Delft is doing with 3D printing on their Hyperloop project, and how they (and other teams) are continuing on with the competition in its new form.

sub scale prototype hyperloop
Early (2016) winning sub-scale prototype (Image credit: Spoorpro)

Large Format Granular Printing

Delft’s Hyperloop’s people-carrying pods are fairly large as you would expect, and various methods have been employed by the different groups in manufacturing them.

To this end, the TU Delft team has employed large scale FFF printing for the fabrication of their pod aeroshell. Specifically they are using a recycled PETG carbon fiber feedstock in granular form. Granulate feedstock printing is faster and more cost effective than filament printing. There are a lot of clear benefits to using this method of printing objects at this scale.

For those interested in the hardware, the Delft team is using a printer from local company 10XL. You can see this printer in action in the this video.

Investment Casting

The team has utilized AM in less direct manufacturing methods also. Specifically they have used additive manufacturing for the digital fabrication of investment casting patterns for molding of metal parts.

For a primer on how AM is used in investment / lost wax casting, you can read our previous article here.

To create the patterns for casting aluminium components Delft Hyperloop used Voxeljet VX1000 printer to create PMMA patterns which you can see below.

pmma voxeljet
Printed PMMA patterns (Image credit: Voxeljet)

The VX1000 is a fairly large machine with a build volume of 1,000 x 600 x 500mm, meaning that the engineers were able to print all 25 of the patterns in the above picture in one print job, taking less than 24 hours.

After the prints were complete, they were sent to a metal casting specialist to cast the final aluminium parts, seen below.

voxeljet cast aluminum
Cast aluminium (Image credit: Voxeljet)

European Hyperloop Week

These are just two of the ways that AM has been helping the Delft Hyperloop team on their development quest. So what’s next for the project?

Together with teams from Valencia, Zurich and Edinburgh, TU Delft have gone on to organize the European Hyperloop Week. This is a student contest in the same vein as the SpaceX one except the focus is on scalability rather than speed.

24 student teams from all over the world will be participating in the competition, including the Delft team with their Delft Hyperloop V entry.

The European Hyperloop Week competition will be held in Valencia, Spain on 19th-25th July 2021.

You can read more about the new contest here, and naturally we will be watching the event with keen eyes to see what other 3D printing trickery will be on display.

lunark-featured
Related Story
Danish Duo 3D Print Lunar Habitat
Share:
WhatsApp Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Buffer Reddit E-mail
About the author | Phillip Keane
Phillip is an aerospace engineer from UK. He is a graduate of Coventry University (UK), International Space University (France) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), where he studied Advanced Manufacturing at the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing.
Latest posts

3D Printed Switchable Explosives Offer Safer Solutions for Mining and Military Applications

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed "switchable" high explosives that require an inert fluid, like water, to be activated, minimizing... read more »

Military
Experimental setup and detonation time lapse

Engineer Wins Prize for 3D-Admix Concrete Printing Additive

Fort Bragg resident and civil engineer, Michael Butler, has won the Most Innovative Product Award at the 2023 World of Concrete International Exhibition.... read more »

Construction
concrete and 3D-Admix

Patent Granted for 3D Printing Embossing Technology

Northann Corp has obtained a European patent for its innovative "DSE Embossing Technology." This new method combines positive and negative embossing techniques in... read more »

News
DSE embossed example

USAF Global Strike Command Embraces 3D Printing for Future Weapon Sustainment

The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is turning to 3D printing to address its weapon sustainment needs. As the field of additive... read more »

Military
USAF mechanical engineer

Particle Accelerator Sheds New Light on Solidification of Metals During 3D Printing

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and other institutions have made a... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Shooting X-rays

CyBe to 3D Print Florida’s First Villa

Dutch construction printing company CyBe Construction is set to print their first 3D concrete villa in Florida, utilizing mobile printing technology to construct... read more »

Construction
CyBe Render

Custom 3D Printed Gaming Mouse Now on Kickstarter

Canadian start-up Formify has launched a Kickstarter campaign for their custom 3D printed gaming mouse, designed to enhance player performance in Esports. Already... read more »

News
custom 3d printed gaming mouse

3D Printed Titanium Cranks Now Available for Electric Mountain Bikes

Cane Creek is taking electric mountain bikes to the next level with the introduction of their 3D printed titanium Electric Wings crankset. Designed... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Swanky and robust

New Technique Produces Ultra-Lightweight, Waste-Free Concrete Structures

Researchers at the University of Michigan's Taubman College have developed an innovative 3D printing method that creates ultra-lightweight, waste-free concrete structures. The "Shell... read more »

Construction
Tubular

Social

  • Facebook Facebook 3D Printing
  • Linkedin Linkedin 3D Printing
  • Twitter Twitter 3D Printing
  • Geeetech A30T Geeetech A30T
    320 x 320 x 420 mm
    $449
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech ALKAID Geeetech ALKAID
    82 x 130 x 190 mm
    $99
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech THUNDER Geeetech THUNDER
    250 x 250 x 260 mm
    $489
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech Mizar M Geeetech Mizar M
    255 x 255 x 260 mm
    $399
    Buy Now
  • Modix BIG-60 Modix BIG-60
    600 x 600 x 660 mm
    $4,900
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech Mizar S Geeetech Mizar S
    255 x 255 x 260 mm
    $279
    Buy Now
  • Fusion3 F410 Fusion3 F410
    355 x 355 x 315 mm
    $4,599
    Buy Now
  • Hands-On Review: Creality Ender 5 S1
    Hands-On Review: Creality Ender 5 S1 Learn More
  • Hands-On Review: The Mole 3D Scanner
    Hands-On Review: The Mole 3D Scanner Learn More

Featured Industries

  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Fashion
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Modix BIG Meter Modix BIG Meter
    1010 x 1010 x 1010 mm
    from $13,500
    Request a Quote
  • Modix BIG-120Z Modix BIG-120Z
    600 x 600 x 1200 mm
    from $7,500
    Request a Quote
  • Industry MAGNUM Industry MAGNUM
    1500 x 1200 x 1200 mm
    €159.000
    Request a Quote
Join our newsletter

Our newsletter is free & you can unsubscribe any time.

Company Information

  • What is 3D Printing?
  • Contact us
  • Join our mailing list
  • Advertise with us
  • Media Kit
  • Nederland 3D Printing

Blog

  • Latest News
  • Use Cases
  • Reviews
  • 3D Printers
  • 3D Printing Metal

Featured Companies

  • Modix
  • Industry
  • Geeetech

Featured Industries

  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Fashion
  • Art
2023 — Strikwerda en Dehue
  • Home
  • Join our mailing list
  • Contact us
Featured Industries
  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Fashion
  • Art
Blog
  • Latest News
  • Use Cases
  • Reviews
  • 3D Printers
  • 3D Printing Metal
Company Information
  • What is 3D Printing?
  • Contact us
  • Join our mailing list
  • Advertise with us
  • Media Kit
  • Nederland 3D Printing
We serve cookies on this site to analyze traffic, remember your preferences, and optimize your experience.
Details
Close