[E426]Alloy angels
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist 2016年第22期，Science and Technology版块。
Additive manufacturing
3D printing produces a curious lightweight motorcycle
May 28th 2016
ONE of the great advantages of 3D printing is being able to escape the constraints of traditional production processes[摆脱传统生产工艺/过程的限制], and to make things with unique shapes. The powerful computer-aided design programs that are used to run 3D printers help engineers achieve this. Algorithms calculate the most efficient structure required to achieve the lightest weight and yet still handle all the loads and stresses[处理所有的负载和应力] that will be placed upon the object. Often the result is rather like something that nature might come up with—which is hardly surprising as nature has had millions of years of practice in creating highly efficient structures.
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The latest example of this bionic design[仿生设计] trend is the Light Rider, which is claimed to be the world's first 3D-printed motorcycle. The substantial part[实质部分] of its structure was printed by APWorks, a company based near Munich[慕尼黑], using a proprietary material[专利/专有材料] called Scalmalloy, an aluminium-magnesium-scandium alloy[铝-镁-钪合金] that was specially developed for 3D printing by Airbus, a European aerospace group that owns APWorks.
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The motorcycle is driven by a 6kW electric motor and battery. It reaches a top speed of 80kph and hits 45kph in three seconds. That will not exactly excite serious bikers, but its 3D-printed frame could get their attention. It weighs just 6kg, which makes the Light Rider some 30% lighter than conventionally manufactured electric motorcycles.
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Then there is the frame's shape, which looks like an organic exoskeleton[外骨架/外骨骼].This complex and hollow structure could not have been made with anything other than a 3D printer, says Joachim Zettler, APWorks' boss. The process involved using a laser to melt together thousands of individual layers of the powdered alloy[合金粉末], each layer only some 60 microns[微米] (millionths of a metre) thick. The company is offering a limited production run of just 50 Light Riders. At some €50,000 ($56,000) each, it is not just the bike that is exotic but also the price.
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以上言论不代表本人立场。
原文摘自The economist，仅外语学习之用。
其中生词解释来源于Cambridge Dictionaries
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