Toyota Europe Deploys World's Largest 3D-Printed Die Casting Insert in Automotive Manufacturing

MacLean-Fogg Company (MFC) and Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT (Fraunhofer ILT) have reached a new milestone in additive manufacturing for the automotive industry: creating the largest 3D-printed nearly solid die casting tooling insert in the world, 350 lbs., for Toyota Europe's Yaris hybrid transmission housing.

The die casting is a conformally cooled insert that was produced using Fraunhofer ILT's gantry-type, multi-laser Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) machine with MacLean-Fogg's L-40 tool steel powder. A hybrid process was utilized in consideration of Toyota's cost targets.

"Gantry printing with L-40 tool steel powder material, a promising avenue towards scalable additive manufacturing, is opening the potential for metal 3D printing to reduce lead times and to realize more responsive manufacturing – in particular while delivering world-class insert performance, longer maintenance intervals, and cost-effective pricing structure," said Magdalena Coventry and Andrew Willett of Toyota Europe in a joint statement. "We are thrilled to be at the forefront of innovations in the rapidly developing universe of additive manufacturing."

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