Lightweight Motorcycle Made Through AM to Be Seen at IMTS
Additive manufacturing allowed electric bike’s frame to be optimized for minimal mass and material.
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The APWorks Light Rider is said to be the first motorcycle to be made through 3D printing. At just over 77 pounds, it is likely the world’s lightest motorcycle as well. The Light Rider will be one of the attractions on exhibit in the International Manufacturing Technology Show’s new Additive Manufacturing Pavilion—specifically in EOS’s booth N-79.
The frame was made through direct metal laser sintering on an EOS machine. APWorks is an Airbus Group company, and metal 3D printing is just one example of a technology applied to next-generation aircraft components that was brought to this bike. The frame is made of Scalmalloy, an aircraft grade aluminum, and the frame design was modeled using Altair software for topology optimization, minimizing the amount of mass and material needed to deliver the frame’s required strength and stiffness. The manufacturer says the result is a power-to-weight ratio for the electric-powered bike that is equivalent to that of a racecar.
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