Metal printing might be a thing now......

[mr_matt]

View attachment 118881I know that 3D printing metal has been around for a long time. I must admit the last time I looked into it, they were having a lot of technical issues with the laser sintering process. and to me it looked pretty bad so I did not look into it further.

I was about to start TIG welding my oil cooler mount (a copy of the showplanes mount, they don't make one for my installation or I would have purchased it.).

Then saw a youtube video from a guy I follow and he said that 3d printing metal has hit its prime now. Not only does it make better parts but the pricing for service bureau printing has collapsed. So I modified my design a little to accommodate the metal printing design rules and ordered the mounts to be made in Grade 5 Titanium. They turned out nice, in fact I wish I had done some sort of clever generative design but alas they just look welded!
BTW I printed the duct from PAHT-CF and it looks like it will hold up, if not I will print it in MJF nylon (It still needs a custom molded seal for the duct LE.)



I will switch to PA12 using MJF process.

 

[skirting_virga]

Not only does it make better parts but the pricing for service bureau printing has collapsed. So I modified my design a little to accommodate the metal printing design rules and ordered the mounts to be made in Grade 5 Titanium.

That looks amazing and I'm the kind of person who would love to use this. What did that cost?

 

[N8DAV8R]

View attachment 118881I know that 3D printing metal has been around for a long time. I must admit the last time I looked into it, they were having a lot of technical issues with the laser sintering process. and to me it looked pretty bad so I did not look into it further.

The part you had printed is great, but I'm kinda jealous of that sticker sitting next to it on the table! That was fun to watch over the holidays, I might have to make up a reason to order something just to get one.

 

[lr172]

View attachment 118881I know that 3D printing metal has been around for a long time. I must admit the last time I looked into it, they were having a lot of technical issues with the laser sintering process. and to me it looked pretty bad so I did not look into it further.

I was about to start TIG welding my oil cooler mount (a copy of the showplanes mount, they don't make one for my installation or I would have purchased it.).

Then saw a youtube video from a guy I follow and he said that 3d printing metal has hit its prime now. Not only does it make better parts but the pricing for service bureau printing has collapsed. So I modified my design a little to accommodate the metal printing design rules and ordered the mounts to be made in Grade 5 Titanium. They turned out nice, in fact I wish I had done some sort of clever generative design but alas they just look welded!
BTW I printed the duct from PAHT-CF and it looks like it will hold up, if not I will print it in MJF nylon (It still needs a custom molded seal for the duct LE.)



View attachment 118878View attachment 118879View attachment 118880 I will switch to PA12 using MJF process.

so one end of the support is rigidly attached to the mount frame and the other end attached to the cooler, which is attached to the engine, which interfaces to the mount via rubber isolators? does it not concern you the amount of stress this is going to put on the cooler? As the engine bounces around on its mounts, won't this support cause all sorts of flexing and fatigue in the cooler, which is now firmly attached and trying to prevent the engine from bouncing around? What am I missing here? Don't mean to insult, just seems I am missing something here. maybe the cooler is attached to the mount at the top and just can't see it.

 

[mr_matt]

That looks amazing and I'm the kind of person who would love to use this. What did that cost?

The lower Ti mount was USD148 to my porch. IIRC, the whole thing (upper and lower mount, the associated clamps) was a bit under USD300 total.

The duct was maybe 8 bucks but you got to have a decent printer (I did myself that on a standard bambu H2D using PAHT-CF, used to call is PA12 not sure why the name changed it still has 12 carbons!)

 

[mr_matt]

so one end of the support is rigidly attached to the mount frame and the other end attached to the cooler, which is attached to the engine, which interfaces to the mount via rubber isolators? does it not concern you the amount of stress this is going to put on the cooler? As the engine bounces around on its mounts, won't this support cause all sorts of flexing and fatigue in the cooler, which is now firmly attached and trying to prevent the engine from bouncing around? What am I missing here? Don't mean to insult, just seems I am missing something here. maybe the cooler is attached to the mount at the top and just can't see it.

Yes the oil cooler is rigidly mounted to the motor mount (there is a top mount too). The top of the oil cooler mounts to the upper motor mount tube, the lower mount ties to the lower mount tube. There is a seal (that is not mounted here) that I mold from 15 shore hardness silicone, the flexible seal takes the last 3/16" between the duct and the back of the #3 baffle.

 

[mr_matt]

The part you had printed is great, but I'm kinda jealous of that sticker sitting next to it on the table! That was fun to watch over the holidays, I might have to make up a reason to order something just to get one.

I have had good luck with them. I wish they would bend 2024 and/or 6061 but what can you do. I did use them for a baffle and I designed bending block in the same design file and it works pretty good. 0.020" 2024-T3

 

[RVbySDI]

The motor will move more than 3/16” inches in opposition to the motor mount. Mounting the cooler rigidly to the motor mount will cause a failure eventually. Something has to “give” when the motor moves and the cooler doesn’t.

 

[mr_matt]

The motor will move more than 3/16” inches in opposition to the motor mount. Mounting the cooler rigidly to the motor mount will cause a failure eventually. Something has to “give” when the motor moves and the cooler doesn’t.

its the showplanes design! Better call them before someone gets hurt ;-)

 

[Norman CYYJ]

The motor will move more than 3/16” inches in opposition to the motor mount. Mounting the cooler rigidly to the motor mount will cause a failure eventually. Something has to “give” when the motor moves and the cooler doesn’t.

The motor moves the most on shut down. Good luck with your cooler mount design. I like mounting them on the firewall and running scat tubing from the rear baffle to the cooler. No baffle cracking

 

[skirting_virga]

The motor moves the most on shut down. Good luck with your cooler mount design. I like mounting them on the firewall and running scat tubing from the rear baffle to the cooler. No baffle cracking

This is how mine is setup. I'm a fan.

its the showplanes design! Better call them before someone gets hurt ;-)

Slicker than I realized. But a scat tube to the cooler is my preference, and it keeps it well away from that vibration.

 

[lr172]

Yes the oil cooler is rigidly mounted to the motor mount (there is a top mount too). The top of the oil cooler mounts to the upper motor mount tube, the lower mount ties to the lower mount tube. There is a seal (that is not mounted here) that I mold from 15 shore hardness silicone, the flexible seal takes the last 3/16" between the duct and the back of the #3 baffle.

Some nice fabrication there. Didn’t mean to imply you didn’t know what you were doing, as you obviously do.

 

[hgerhardt]

It's definitely a thing now. I'm making aluminum belt heat shields for the Sling A/C system as well as stainless compressor braces. The Flowers' AV101 standalone Monkworkz setup also got an aluminum belt guard.

 

[climberrn]

its the showplanes design! Better call them before someone gets hurt ;-)

I have the showplanes mount and I agree with the comments about clearance. The engine shakes mostly on the rotational axis. 1/2” clearance should be fine with a rubber/silicone baffle but the problem I see is with the lower area below the bend. When the engine shakes it will likely damage the oil cooler eventually. The fiberglass on my mount has the baffle seal straight up to the vertical section, not on the 45 degree bend where yours is. The engine can shake without compressing the cooler.

 

[rv8ch]

its the showplanes design! Better call them before someone gets hurt ;-)

That one moved a lot, but I've seen other videos where they move more. Hope it works well!

3d printing metal has hit its prime now.

Very cool. Do you know if they have tested the relative strength of 3d printed vs. "traditional" methods of fabrication?

 

[mr_matt]

I have the showplanes mount and I agree with the comments about clearance. The engine shakes mostly on the rotational axis. 1/2” clearance should be fine with a rubber/silicone baffle but the problem I see is with the lower area below the bend. When the engine shakes it will likely damage the oil cooler eventually. The fiberglass on my mount has the baffle seal straight up to the vertical section, not on the 45 degree bend where yours is. The engine can shake without compressing the cooler.

Great point, I can change the duct to pick up the air from the vertical section exclusively and get clearance under the (angled section) baffle. It's a long way from the oil cooler itself but it's a great point thanks

 

[mr_matt]

Very cool. Do you know if they have tested the relative strength of 3d printed vs. "traditional" methods of fabrication?

No but I have seen some amateur testing that showed it is basically the same as "traditional". But I would not use this is in any aircraft rigging at this point. I can say the process seems a lot better now than even 5-7 years ago. The process used to have so many occlusions it seemed unusable to me. This is different now. The key now is also how cheap it is

 

[climberrn]

Here’s a pic of mine. Due to the use of -14 baffles on a -7 and using the cylinder #3 bypass I had to use a cooler about 1/2” smaller than the one this mount is made for. Thus the fiberglass work. Just ran out of clearance.

 

[mr_matt]

It's definitely a thing now. I'm making aluminum belt heat shields for the Sling A/C system as well as stainless compressor braces. The Flowers' AV101 standalone Monkworkz setup also got an aluminum belt guard.

View attachment 118895View attachment 118897

The aluminum was quoting about a third of titanium and titanium was half that of stainless. I'm not sure why, but aluminum didn't seem much more expensive than MJF PA6. How did your stainless come out?

 

[hgerhardt]

The aluminum was quoting about a third of titanium and titanium was half that of stainless. I'm not sure why, but aluminum didn't seem much more expensive than MJF PA6. How did your stainless come out?

What site did you get those prices from? Craftcloud just did this:



And that stainless compressor brace:


I've since redesigned it to make from bent 316 stainless from SendCutSend ($9.00 ea in qty 10), and redesigned it once again with more distance from the holes to the bends, to prevent hole distortion (this one works fine after reaming the holes, but wanted to avoid that in the production version).

 

[msires]

The newest Raptor 3 rocket engines for SpaceX Starship are largely 3D printed, so yes, metal 3D printing has come a long way.

 

[CTCole]

Time for an EAA webinar on printing metal parts.

 

[CF86301]

Time for an EAA webinar on printing metal parts.