Product Development

While Etteplan’s AMO team is working hard to show our customers how to benefit most from additive manufacturing, we are always searching for the best manufacturing method for each design. This customer case is a good example of how “hybrid manufacturing”, a combination of additive and traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques, can be utilized to efficiently produce a very demanding product.

John Deere Forestry Oy asked Etteplan to redesign a hydraulic block for a tree harvester boom in order to best utilize the geometric freedoms offered by additive manufacturing, i.e. 3D printing. The goals from the redesign were to decrease pressure drop, make assembly easier, reduce weight, and minimize production costs.

Etteplan offers a comprehensive set of services related to the creation of additive manufactured goods. We combine additive manufacturing expertise with our company-wide excellence in the fields of mechanical engineering and simulation techniques.

Wärtsilä was willing to redesign their valve springs press tools by having a lighter structure made by additive manufacturing. The initial “standard design” was machined and welded, but there were fears that it would not withstand the spring forces of over 30 kN generated during use. Wärtsilä involved Etteplan to co-design and rethink the manually operated pressing tool for mounting cylinder head valves.