Crewe-based
Bentley Motors is marking 25 years of leveraging additive manufacturing (AM), having invested significantly into its facility and technologies in recent years. The journey, which began with a commitment to bring 3-D printing in-house to support the development of Bentley’s first generation Continental GT, has evolved into a ‘state of the art’ facility that is home to 13 3-D printers.
Originally housed in the oldest building at the Pyms Lane site, A1 – which is now being transformed into the future assembly line for Bentley’s first BEV – the 3-D printing facility has been relocated into the company’s new Engineering Technical Centre, reinforcing Bentley’s position at the forefront of innovation in advanced product development and manufacturing techniques.
Bentley’s AM facility leverages a diverse range of advanced technologies, each offering unique 3-D printing capabilities that support the entire development and production lifecycle across multiple business areas. A recent industry first example was on ‘The Black Rose’, a special customer commission, and one of only three right-hand-drive Baturs. The first-ever expression of three-dimensional 3-D printed solid rose gold was used, adding up to 210g of hallmarked 18-carat rose gold to the interior of the coachbuilt coupe at key driver touchpoints.
Dr Matthias Rabe, Bentley’s Member of the Board for R&D, said: “AM continues to play a vital role in the product development process, and our capability and expertise in this field has gone from strength-to-strength. The ability to rapidly produce and iterate components has advanced how we develop our models and offers further opportunities as we electrify our model range and create our next generation of extraordinary cars.”
Aerodynamic test modelsThe AM facility enables optimal material and process selection for every application. From large, functional components produced through Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) to aerodynamic test models created by Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF) technologies.
The team has even 3-D printed a W12 engine block scaled down to just 5mm wide that still retains every detail of the engine thanks to a Lithography-based Metal Manufacturing (LMM) technology - a pioneering approach to 3-D metal printing that delivers industry-leading precision. These technologies support everything from scale models and rapid prototyping, to ‘single-print’ parts and bespoke tooling solutions that not only accelerate the product development process, but make it more sustainable through reducing waste materials.
Beyond product development, Bentley’s AM expertise has also made a positive difference in the local community and beyond. The team produced over 20,000 items of PPE to support NHS staff and local care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic, and has also been exploring methods to make their activities more sustainable, such as taking excess polymer powder from the MJF process and re-using it as a filament in FDM printing – which accounts for around 60% of the material output from the AM facility.