BUGATTI'S
TITANIUM CALIPER REVS UP INDUSTRY
Bugatti’s eight-piston monobloc brake caliper is the world’s first brake caliper
to be produced by a 3D printer and also the largest titanium functional component produced
by additive manufacturing.
With the newly developed titanium brake caliper,
Bugatti is now going one step further and breaking
new ground. This particular titanium alloy, with the
scientific designation of Ti6AI4V, is mainly used
in the aerospace industry, for example for highly
stressed undercarriage and wing components or
in aircraft and rocket engines.
The material offers considerably higher performance
than aluminium. For example, even as a
3-D printed component, it has a tensile strength
of 1,250 N/mm2. This means that a force of
slightly more than 125 kg can be applied to a
square millimetre of this titanium alloy without the
material rupturing.
The new titanium brake caliper, which is 41 cm
long, 21 cm wide and 13.6 cm high, weighs only
2.9 kg. In comparison with the aluminium component
currently used, which weighs 4.9 kg, Bugatti
could therefore reduce the weight of the brake
caliper by about 40% at the same time as ensuring
even higher strength by using the new part.
The 3D printed components are to be trialled for
series production this year.