Wabtec adds GE Additive binder jet technology to its equipment

Implementing an Additive Manufacturing Strategy has almost become a “MUST” for OEMs & other industrials. Companies like Wabtec Corporation are paving the way to AM applications in the freight and transit rail industries, regarded as new market entrants in the AM industry.

Wabtec Corporation rigorous strategy

Wabtec Corporation is a global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions and value-added services for freight and transit rail.

In its current analysis of the way AM can be integrated into its business, the company has already identified several technologies that can enable the production of up to 250 components for its product lines by 2025.

Investing in GE Additive new H2 binder jet technology will definitely contribute in the achievement of this goal. Obviously, the GE Additive team will support Wabtec in its industrialization strategy. The two companies are currently working together at GE Additive’s labs in Cincinnati where Wabtec received its first H2 machine. Teams from Wabtec are co-located at the lab to work on technology development, before the machine is relocated to their Grove City, PA facility later this year. 

Additive [manufacturing] is one of the key technology pillars for our company and central in our efforts to drive innovation in the industries we serve,” Philip Moslener, global director of the WabtecOne Platform & Applied Innovation. “This binder jet machine will help us design and produce reliable, low-cost components for our current and developmental engines, locomotive, transit and mining programs.”

Throughout 2018, a multi-disciplinary team at GE Additive developed the second generation “H2” binder jet beta machines. Today, parts are being printed on those machines, which we understand provide the largest format and fastest build speed currently on the market,” said Josh Mook, innovation leader at GE Additive.

The use of 3D Printing in the railway industry

The use of AM in the railway is still nascent. In the Netherlands for instance, NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has started experiencing the technology. Among the manufacturers that distinguish themselves from others of the same range, one notes that Deustche Bahn keeps increasing its 3D Printing possibilities, and big projects like Crossrail demonstrates real applications of the technology.

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