3D Printing
News Videos Newsletter Contact us
Home / News / Dutch Firm Printing Wind Tunnels and Training Trains
qidi

Dutch Firm Printing Wind Tunnels and Training Trains

June 10, 2022

A Dutch company by the name of 3D-Robotprinting has been manufacturing some pretty big and interesting things with their roboprinters, including a wind tunnel and a train simulator (the latter being used as a teaching aid for train crews).

These are not your average printed things that we read about all the time, so let’s have a look at what they’re for and how they were printed.

Wind Tunnel

The first big and interesting thing is the vertical wind tunnel, which was manufactured for TU Delft’s faculty of aerospace engineering.

The entire wind tunnel took roughly 128 hours to print with polypropylene mixed with glass fiber thermoplastic composite material.

The ring on the bottom, according to 3D-Robotprinting, consists of 8 parts that took 4 hours per part, and the bell at the top exists out of 12 parts which took 88 hours combined.

The parts were then plastic welded together, and the ring was polished to a high quality finish, which is fairly critical in fluid dynamics experimentation. The result was a tunnel that gave superior acoustic performance with very little turbulent air, again, laminar airflow being important in a wind tunnel.

You can see the vertical wind tunnel in the image below.

Wind tunnel section
Wind tunnel section (Image credit: 3D-robotprinting)<br />

Wind tunnels are fairly labour intensive to build at the best of times needing curved structures and high quality finishing, so building one practically automatically in 128 hours is not bad at all.

Train Simulator

Vehicle training simulators are not simply screens with a bunch of controls on to represent the controls of the vehicle. The higher the fidelity of the simulation environment, the higher value from a human factors and ergonomics perspective. It familiarizes them with the real thing a lot more effectively.

3D-Robotprinting manufactured a single seat train simulator (below), and an entire room for multiple simulation activities. These simulators were ordered by Utrech-based civil engineering company Movares, and they are useful in training train drivers in operations, new procedures, and new routes, to name just a few uses.

Single simulator
Single simulator. (Image credit: 3D-Robotprinting)

The simulator structures were also printed with polypropylene mixed with glass fiber, which the company prefers due to its robust strength and relative ease of post-processing.

In the case of the simulators, the post-processing involved plastic welding, sanding, painting and polishing.

Multiple station training room.
Multiple station training room. (Image credit: 3D-Roboprinting)

These projects have been printed with a granule extruder mounted to a robotic arm, with the extruder being provided by another Dutch company, Bloom Robotics. Their extruder system was used to deposit material in the train simulators at a rate of between 3 to 5 kg/h.

Granule extruder.
Granule extruder.<br />(Image Credit: Bloom Robotics)

If you’d like to see more of 3D-Robotprinting’s other large format plastic prints (or if you need something huge printed yourself) then head on over to their website over at this link.

Related Story
Large Scale 3D Printers Big Enough to Print Furniture
Share:
WhatsApp Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Buffer Reddit E-mail
About the author | Peter Strikwerda
Co-Founder 3DPrinting.com
Join our newsletter

Our newsletter is free & you can unsubscribe any time.

Latest posts

Turkish Companies Test 3D Printed Component for Armored Vehicles

MetalWorm and Nurol Makina, both based in Ankara, Turkey, have completed testing of an armored vehicle component manufactured using Directed Energy Deposition (DED)... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Turkish Companies Test 3D Printed Component for Armored Vehicles

McGill Spinout Uses 3D Bioprinting to Create Tumors for Smarter Cancer Treatments

TissueTinker, a McGill University spinout company, has developed 3D bioprinting technology to create miniaturized tumor models for cancer drug testing. The company recently... read more »

Medical
McGill Spinout Uses 3D Bioprinting to Create Tumors for Smarter Cancer Treatments

University of Twente Awarded €13.6M for Research in Circular 3D Printing and Transparent AI

The University of Twente has received €13.6 million in funding from the 2024 NWA ORC program to lead two research projects focused on... read more »

News
University of Twente Awarded €13.6M for Research in Circular 3D Printing and Transparent AI

China’s 3D Printed Micro Turbojet Engine Completes Maiden Flight

The Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) has successfully completed the first flight test of its 3D-printed micro turbojet engine in Inner Mongolia... read more »

Aerospace
China's 3D Printed Micro Turbojet Engine Completes Maiden Flight

Laser-Assisted Cold Spray Technology Enhances Material Deposition Process

Researchers at the University of Cambridge's Center for Industrial Photonics have developed a new additive manufacturing technique called laser-assisted cold spray (LACS). The... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Laser-Assisted Cold Spray Technology Enhances Material Deposition Process

Titomic Netherlands Secures Strategic Funding to Advance Cold Spray 3D Printing Technology

Titomic Limited, an Australian company specializing in cold spray additive manufacturing, has received €800,000 in funding from the Netherlands' 3D Print Kompas program.... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Titomic Netherlands Secures Strategic Funding to Advance Cold Spray 3D Printing Technology

3D-Printed Insects Help Scientists Map the Limits of Mimicry in Nature

Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed a method to 3D print life-sized, color-accurate insect models for biological research. The team, led... read more »

Environmental

University of Hong Kong Scientists Explore Growing Organs with 3D Printing Technology

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) are working to combine 3D-printed respiratory tissue with lab-grown organoids to create functional airways for... read more »

Bioprinting
University of Hong Kong Scientists Explore Growing Organs with 3D Printing Technology

SHINING 3D Unveils EinScan Rigil with Tri-Mode Scanning for Pro-sumer Flexibility

SHINING 3D has launched its newest flagship 3D scanner, the EinScan Rigil — touted as the world’s first 3D scanner featuring Tri-Mode operation... read more »

News
SHINING 3D Unveils EinScan Rigil with Tri-Mode Scanning for Pro-Level Flexibility

Social

  • Facebook Facebook 3D Printing
  • Linkedin Linkedin 3D Printing
Join our newsletter

Our newsletter is free & you can unsubscribe any time.

Featured Industries

  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Fashion
  • Medical
  • Military
  • QIDI Tech X-Max 3

    • - Print size: 325 x 325 x 315 mm
    • - fully enclosed
    More details »
    $799.00 QIDI Store
    Buy Now
  • QIDI Plus4

    • - Print size: 305 x 305 x 280 mm
    • - print temperature of 370°C
    More details »
    $799.00 QIDI Store
    Buy Now
  • QIDI Tech Q1 Pro

    • - Print size: 245 x 245 x 245 mm
    • - 600mm/s max speed
    More details »
    $449.00 QIDI Store
    Buy Now
  • Snapmaker Artisan Premium 3-in-1

    • - Print size: 400 x 400 x 400 mm
    • - comes with enclosure
    More details »
    $2,999.00 Snapmaker
    Buy Now

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 Reviews

  • Anycubic Photon Mono M5s
  • Creality Ender 5 S1
  • The Mole 3D Scanner
  • Flashforge Creator 3 Pro

Featured Industries

  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Fashion
  • Art
2025 — Strikwerda en Dehue
  • Home
  • Join our mailing list
  • Contact us
Blog
  • Latest News
  • Use Cases
  • Reviews
  • 3D Printers
  • 3D Printing Metal
Featured Industries
  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Fashion
  • Art
Company Information
  • What is 3D Printing?
  • Contact us
  • Join our mailing list
  • Advertise with us
  • Media Kit
  • Nederland 3D Printing