3D Printing Helps Crash Test Dummies

The crash-test dummy is a high-tech testing device with a large number of physical and electronic permutations to satisfy the unique needs of each customer.

Each industry such as automotive, aerospace, airline or defense, all have different requirements for their crash test dummies.

Need lots of customisation? 3D Printing to the Rescue!

This persistent demand for sophisticated new products and features explains why Humanetics Innovative Solutions of Huron, Ohio, a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), uses ZPrinting 3D printing technology from 3D Systems.

3D Printing saves weeks off the creation of moulds

“3D Printing lets us make new parts for the client in a day and a half instead of the week or more it takes when we need to machine new steel or aluminum molds,” said Humanetics Project Engineer Kris Sullenberger. “It’s also probably a 10-to-one cost savings in materials and machine work, meaning we save hundreds of dollars each time.”

Sullenberger’s team purchased its 3D Printer four years ago to execute an urgent project for the US Department of Defense during the second Iraq war. The client needed a sophisticated head model to test a new generation of goggles and face shields. The head model consisted of a dozen segments representing facial bones, each having impact data collection sensors.

Speed and Resolution were important

“3D Printing was the only way we could do the job,” Sullenberger said. “Time was of the essence, and 3D Printing’s speed, accuracy and resolution was best suited to the government’s needs.”

Sullenberger’s team 3D Printed patterns and mold boxes, quickly created silicon molds, and then heat-poured the urethane parts.

“From start to finish, the whole product – design, building, testing and shipping – took six months. It would have taken three months of machine time alone to make aluminum molds. And revisions would have been a nightmare. Instead, we just reprinted and repoured anytime we needed a change.”

Today, Humanetics is printing about 200 parts a year, often multiple parts per build. At peak, Sullenberger’s team runs the 3D Printer around the clock for three weeks on end.

3D Printing allows quick prototyping and demos for clients

Although most of Humanetics’ 3D Printing is for mold and pattern production, the company also prints samples for marketing and sales, often helping explain concepts better than words or CAD images.

“We’ll send complete scaled-down dummies to clients, including senior executives and other non-technical professionals, or we’ll send detailed models that help explain new designs,” Sullenberger said. “People often don’t know what they’re looking at in a picture. But it drives the information home when you print a part, split it in half and let the person pick up the pieces, examine the internals, and put them together themselves.”

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