+49 (9287) 8069999
Custom-Made Titanium Components For A Track Bike
For his dissertation, design student Ralf Holleis from Upper Franconia came up with something quite special: The cycling fan and amateur welder wanted to develop a modern and sophisticated track bike. Holleis had two objectives in mind: Firstly, he envisaged using as few materials as possible to keep both the costs down and the weight low. Secondly, he envisaged developing a concept whereby cut frames could be manufactured and tailored to individual customers in a short space of time.
Holleis decided to have different fasteners (control sleeve, brake struts, saddle sleeve, bottom bracket sleeve, dropouts, crown and stem) manufactured using the laser-melting process.
In close cooperation with Holleis, Laser Add Center developed titanium components, the lattice structure of which proved not just a real eye-catcher, it also reduced the weight. Laser melting also lent the components a high mechanical load capacity, while maintaining low material consumption.
The sleeve geometries, which are based on a multitude of data, calculations, and stress tests, are variable. In this way, custom frames can be individually constructed according to body size or arm length. The final step was for LAC to produce the components in STL format from the 3D data. The finished parts were annealed, sanded, and coated with titanium nitride to create a scratch-resistant and corrosion-resistant surface. The frame parts and sleeves were finally glued using two-component epoxy adhesive, tensioned in a frame gage, and annealed in an oven at 80 degrees for 50 minutes.
The low production costs, the stability of the parts, as well as the ability to produce customized geometries in a very short space of time make laser melting a trend-setting technology; a technology that is opening up new possibilities in rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing.