Quote:
Originally Posted by some_other_dave
Mahle has done a lot of materials engineering and parts manufacturing for Porsche over the years. A good bit of the tech has also made its way to other brands later.
The benefits I can see for the printed pistons would mostly be the lighter weight, so less energy required to move them up and down. Not a huge effect, I would think, and one that could be approximated by using a lighter wrist-pin or lighter rods.
-soD
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But lighter pistons cause less force on the wrist pins and the rods and therefore permit even lighter wrist pins and rods and crankshaft with traditional materials and machining techniques. But if the pistons stay the same then the wrist pins and rods will require exotic materials (like titanium) and/or more intensive machining. It's also important to note that these 3d printed pistons are made with traditional alloys, nothing special.