To ensure Electric Superbike Twente's brand new electric motor operates at ideal temperature, the electric motor will be fitted with a metal 3D-printed cooling shell, produced by K3D.
Electric Superbike Twente, together with K3D, developed one of the first metal 3D-printed components for the racing industry. The electric motor of their second brand-new electric superbike is water-cooled, just like the first superbike, which Electric Superbike Twente developed in 2018. "The cooling shell of our first superbike consisted of multiple parts, which were difficult to produce using conventional techniques, such as turning and milling. To meet the required tolerances, material had to be added, making the final product heavier," Feitse Krekt, Technical Manager of Electric Superbike Twente's current team, said in a press release. "In addition, the cooling performance was somewhat disappointing. To ensure manufacturability of the components, the wall thicknesses of the shell had to be chosen larger than desired. This was at the expense of the cooling performance. As a result, less power came out of the electric motor and we sometimes had to hold back considerably to avoid overheating the electric motor."
Innovate
Electric Superbike Twente wants to continuously innovate and stay at the top of electric racing. The team is currently busy developing a second electric superbike. "While designing this new superbike, we completely redesigned as many components as possible to optimise them. We were able to make great strides in terms of electric motor cooling when using metal 3D printing. The big advantages of metal 3D printing are function integration, weight and space-saving design freedom. In our search for a partner, we ended up with K3D," says Krekt.
"Electric Superbike Twente sought contact when they were still in the early stages of their design phase. This gave us the opportunity to provide good guidance in designing for 3D printing," says Jaap Bulsink, CTO of K3D. "Metal 3D printing is our profession and we are always looking for opportunities to share this experience and knowledge. Especially when it comes to such a cool project as building an electric superbike."
Many possibilities
Because the part was specifically designed for 3D printing, the options were endless. Bulsink: "The cooling shell has optimal cooling performance due to a thin-walled design with internal cooling channels in exactly the right place. This is only possible with metal 3D printing, where you have ultimate design freedom. In addition, the part is designed to be as light as possible. Is printed correctly in one go and has such accuracy that no post-processing is needed. The uniqueness of this metal 3D-printed part also lies in its dimensions. We came across more 3D-printed cooling shells for the racing industry, but in these batches the parts were at least four times smaller. With Electric Superbike Twente, the dimensions are considerable."
Besides the cooling shell, more parts for the new electric superbike are currently being produced. Once these parts are in, the superbike will be assembled. After that, the team will test the superbike, which includes this high-end cooling system. "With such innovations, it is exciting to find out if everything works. We are convinced that this metal 3D-printed cooling shell is a piece of today's high-end technology," concludes Krekt.
The unveiling of Electric Superbike Twente's new superbike will take place on 24 May at the Kinepolis cinema hall in Enschede.
Source: University of Twente.
