Hyundai Motor and Kia's Namyang Additive Manufacturing Center Prints Prototypes, Tooling and Motorsport Parts

Hyundai Motor and Kia operate a dedicated additive manufacturing facility, the Additive Manufacturing Solution Center (AMSC), at their Namyang Research and Development Center. Hyundai says the newly constructed facility, inside the Advanced Mobility Solutions building, is Hyundai Motor Group's first purpose-built facility dedicated to additive manufacturing research and production, established nearly three decades after the Group introduced its first industrial 3D printer in 1996. Polymer work uses Vat Photopolymerization processes, including Digital Light Processing (DLP) and Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA), and Polymer Powder Bed Fusion. Metal work uses Metal Powder Bed Fusion and Directed Energy Deposition, including DED-Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, which Hyundai says handles steel, stainless steel, aluminum and titanium for large structural components.

Hyundai says the center makes prototypes, manufacturing jigs and fixtures, and service parts for discontinued vehicles, plus motorsport parts including anti-roll bar blades, damper brackets and brake duct rails. A Hyundai Pony side-sill component was digitally reconstructed through 3D scanning and reverse engineering, the company says. Engineers also work on design for additive manufacturing, and parts are checked in a Quality Inspection Cell for dimensions, tensile strength, bending stiffness and impact resistance. Hanwoo On, senior manager of the additive manufacturing solutions team, said the Group is "rapidly internalizing additive manufacturing technologies."