Landspeed Record with Laser Melting
The very first object to break the landspeed barrier of 1,000 mph is likely to be a part produced through additive manufacturing.
The very first object to break the landspeed barrier of 1,000 mph is likely to be a part produced through additive manufacturing. The Bloodhound supersonic car, which will attempt to surpass this speed in 2015, will use a titanium nose tip created through additive manufacturing using a Renishaw laser melting machine.
The seemingly simple part is not simple at all. Indeed, CNC machining would have been impractical for making the nose tip, because the part is hollow. Additive manufacturing gave the Bloodhound engineers the freedom to tailor the nose tip design on both the outside and the inside, creating a structure that provides precisely the needed strength with the minimum possible weight.
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