AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
Laser sintering was used to create the airbag housing
IN
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Case study showcases the successful use of professional 3D printing and high-performance composite material in the manufacturing of an airbag housing container
or over a century, Joyson Safety Systems has been innovating mobility safety, bringing life-saving technology to customers worldwide.
It designs, manufactures and sells safety products, such as airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels and safety electronics. T e fi rm was the fi rst manufacturer supplying series steering wheels with a ‘hands-on-detection’ (HOD) function for autonomous driving to renowned OEMs in North America as well as in Europe. Recently its Core innovations team started a project to explore and deep dive into the additive manufacturing fi eld, also pointing out its possibilities and potential to discover new processes and materials to use for the manufacturing of an airbag housing container. T ey therefore carried out a market analysis to discover a composite material corresponding to the existing material (in this case, polyamide with 40% glass fi bre reinforcement) used in production of the airbag housing container through conventional process (injection moulding).
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www.engineerlive.com T e driver airbag (DAB) housing
part is often produced with PA6-GF40 material. T e complete system of the airbag is consisting of infl ator, an airbag cushion, a cover and a housing with attachment points on the steering wheel. T e airbag cushion that is connected to the housing part is located within the space of the housing and the cover. T e performance of the DAB housing part is extremely essential, due to the
3D printed driver airbag (DAB) housing in Windform SP, internal view
fact that it’s a safety component in the vehicle. T is means that the airbag will infl ate during a sudden accident within quite a short period of about 30-50ms to prevent the passenger from any injuries. T e DAB housing holds the entire airbag system in place so it is also a base essential component for the system. Samer Ziadeh from Joyson Safety
Systems’ Core innovations team explains the function of the DAB housing, and says that “it is to withstand a high amount of dynamic loads in addition to holding the infl ator and the airbag cushion fi xed in location during and after the deployment of the airbag system. T is load is developed due to the pressure required to infl ate the airbag, as a result the large stresses will directly be applied on the airbag system and more particularly on the DAB housing. T e test procedures are normally conducted within a various range of temperatures between -35°C and 85°C.” It’s a given then, that the material used for manufacturing the part is expected to
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