“In collaboration with Sirris, Atlas Copco developed a new component compressor design entirely suited to 3D printing.”
Compressors compress air. The water released during this process is collected in a ‘drain pot’ beneath the compressor, which contains a float. When there is no water in the drain pot, the float closes the pot to prevent loss of air. As the water level rises, the float is raised and the drain opens allowing the water to escape. With so much salt water around – both inside the compressor and in the offshore application for which it is used -non- rusting material is a top priority. During the ‘Design for Additive Manufacturing’ masterclass, Atlas Copco and Sirris went back to the drawing board to come up with a new drain pot design that would be just as functional and corrosion-resistant while using less material.
It was decided to use titanium instead of aluminium for the new drain pot prototype. With casting not cost-effective for a small batch, 3D printing was the most logical alternative. However, the existing drain pot design was unnecessarily complex for this technique, so Sirris and Atlas Copco carried out a functional analysis to determine the core functions that the drain pot had to perform. Based on this analysis, a number of functions were merged and the resulting design was greatly simplified, featuring a compacter format with the necessary support structures reduced to a minimum – perfect for additive manufacturing.
As well as eliciting much admiration at the RapidPro international trade fair, the new drain pot prototype marked the launch of an extensive company-wide additive manufacturing programme at Atlas Copco. The benefits of the 3D-printed drain pot speak for themselves: a drastic reduction in material use and more efficient and flexible production, with all the attendant cost savings.