Where it started

From pen holders to fatigue testing of metal parts

Alstom has pursued 3D printing since 2016, aiming to supply printed parts to its own plants and to internal and external customers. Aurélien Fussel, Alstom’s 3DP program manager, recalled that in 2016 they were printing pen holders; now they are validating metal parts for fatigue.

The jigs

Jigs that follow the car body, printed in-house

The side profiles need precise positioning and adjustment during assembly. Alstom prints the jigs with Markforged continuous fiber: define location and need, slice and print, then test and validate — including a test of the jig’s magnetic hold.

Jigs like these must follow the product’s curves, come in small numbers and are needed quickly.

The cost

Why it beats buying in

Fabrizio Legrenzi of Markforged added that the printers run without supervision, so there is no labor cost during production; power draw is low — “more like an appliance” — and there is no CAM programming. The part cost is essentially the material.

Asked how Alstom chooses which parts to print, the team described correlating part data from its internal systems to target the right part families, with savings in the thousands of euros. The webinar closed by noting that this jig is one of the hundreds printed each month.

Next

From jigs to end-use parts

Alstom groups the value of additive manufacturing into three areas: composite strength for loaded parts and test jigs; tools and parts for maintenance, repair and operations; and end-use parts. Next steps are larger parts, more end-use parts and rollout across Alstom plants.