Additive Manufacturing for Customized Car Accessories

"It's been a tremendous project from start to finish, as exciting as it was challenging for our expertise. We are excited to imagine that all these cars are now all over the world. And throughout all of this project, we knew we could count on reliability, quality and support from EOS."

Charles de Forges | Managing Director | Spartacus3D

Series production of the parts on an EOS M 290 in EOS Titanium Ti64

The DS design team used an innovative parametric design to create the inside door handle covers and the electronic key holder detail in a very intricate titanium mesh, highlighting the innovation and quality dedication of DS Automobiles.

In order to find the best compromise between quality, cost and design, many iterations were necessary between the DS design team and Spartacus3D. This included the manufacturing of several prototypes, something that additive manufacturing makes particularly easy to perform in a single production batch.

As part of this process, the DS design team also selected the finish of the parts; they ultimately settled on an attractive matte finish obtained by manual polishing. The quality team defined precise acceptance criteria for the distortion, surface quality (e.g. porosity and shine), and cutting edges. In parallel to this back-and-forth, Spartacus3D also worked on optimizing the production of the parts; in order to reduce the costs, Spartacus3D not only needed to determine the best orientation and support structure, but also needed to refine their proprietary laser melting strategy. Titanium is known to generate some residual stresses during the melting process, and the long and thin door handle cover was a good candidate for maximum distortion. Adding a stress-relieving heat treatment was not viable costwise; instead, some specific parameters were used to prevent this risk. Other ways of shrinking the cost include increasing the parts per batch or reducing the number of supports, the powder consumption, the post-processing time, etc.

Thanks to the 3D printing expertise of Spartacus3D, it was possible to develop an additive manufacturing strategy optimized for the requirements of the DS design team. The parametric design fully leverages the potential of EOS technology: the very complex original design of the two parts could be produced almost one to one thanks to additive manufacturing and was optimized so that multiple units could be manufactured at the same time. This reduced the production costs to a minimum.

The material, EOS Titanium Ti64, also allowed for post-production finishing, giving a shiny surface and a premium look to the door handle covers and key holder. The results could almost be described as art with a sleek, refined design and a very intricate structure that perfectly combines French elegance, innovation and premium exclusivity - everything that DS Automobiles stands for. 

There were about 10 production runs for a total of 2,000 pieces - 3 items in each car – taking roughly 2,000 hours of manufacturing. The whole project was completed in just a few weeks from the validation of the design by the DS design team to the delivery of the final parts.

DS Automobiles was able to create something unique in the automotive sector by going beyond the limits of traditional manufacturing, allowing the DS 3 Dark Side to stand out from its competition. The DS design team was able to manage a complex project in a very short time thanks to the expertise provided by Spartacus3D and the capabilities of EOS additive manufacturing solutions.