Brake calipers for the electric racing car from the 3D printer

Additive manufacturing Brake calipers for the electric racing car from the 3D printer

2024-07-01 Source: Press release | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

Related Vendors

In her thesis, the student Viktoria Sobkowicz created a brake caliper model that was then additively manufactured in the Steinfurt laboratory using metal 3D printing and is intended to be used in the Formula Student.

Mechanical engineering student Viktoria Sobkowicz produced brake calipers on a metal 3D printer in the Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technology Laboratory as part of her bachelor's thesis. These are used for the e-racing cars of the Formula Student Team Racing Power Münster of Münster University of Applied Sciences, to which the student belongs, and for the team of the Technical University of Hamburg.(Image: FH Münster/Frederik Tebbe) — Mechanical engineering student Viktoria Sobkowicz produced brake calipers on a metal 3D printer in the Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technology Laboratory as part of her bachelor's thesis. These are used for the e-racing cars of the Formula Student Team Racing Power Münster of Münster University of Applied Sciences, to which the student belongs, and for the team of the Technical University of Hamburg.
(Image: FH Münster/Frederik Tebbe)

The Racing Power Münster (RPM) team from the FH Münster and University of Münster is building its own E-racing car on the Steinfurt Technology Campus. With it, they want to participate in the international design competitions of the Formula Student and measure themselves against other university groups from all over Europe.

Integrated into university studies is also the work on the race car, as Viktoria Sobkowicz's bachelor thesis shows: Using the metal 3D printer in the machine tool and manufacturing technology laboratory run by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hilmar Apmann, the mechanical engineering student herself designed the brake calipers for the car. With the support of laboratory engineer Steffen Florian and the Institute for Production Management and Technology under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Dege from the Hamburg University of Technology, the brake calipers were manufactured additively.

Topology optimization results in weight savings

The basis for the brake calipers - that part of a disc brake that spans the brake pads over the brake disc - Sobkowicz took from a suitable model on the market. "I used its dimensions as a guide when I designed the 3D model for printing," the student explains. "However, in a next step, I then adapted them to the requirements of our race car." Among other things, she performed topology optimization: Here, a program calculates the forces acting on the component. In metal 3D printing, more material is then used for heavily stressed areas, but it is also reduced for less resilient areas. "This provides both weight savings on the calipers and improved function, which is certainly important in a race car," says Sobkowicz.

Gallery

The finished brake calipers were subsequently machined by a team from the Hamburg-Harburg Technical University on a milling machine. Both the Münster and Hamburg Formula Student teams receive the brake calipers, which were developed and designed differently for each team.(Image: TU Hamburg/Lasse Evers)

The metal 3D printer melts aluminum powder using a laser and uses it to produce the desired component.(Image: FH Münster/Viktoria Sobkowicz)

Mechanical engineering student Viktoria Sobkowicz produced brake calipers on a metal 3D printer in the laboratory for machine tools and production engineering as part of her bachelor's thesis. These will be used for the e-racing cars of the Formula Student Team Racing Power Münster at Münster University of Applied Sciences, which the student is a part of, and for the team at the Technical University of Hamburg.(Image: FH Münster/Frederik Tebbe)

Steffen Florian is doing his PhD at the metal 3D printer in the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering. He assisted the student in verifying the models, correctly dimensioning the support structures for printing, and finally producing the parts on the machine.

After printing, the parts went to the Hamburg University of Technology. The Institute for Production Management and Technology processed the total of eight brake calipers. The project came about through cooperation between Professors Apmann and Dege. A race car for the Formula Student is also being built in Hamburg. The team there has designed its own brake calipers, which were printed at FH Münster - so both teams receive specially manufactured brake calipers. "I am very pleased about the successful cooperation and the opportunity to support the Formula Student project also with a bachelor's thesis," says Apmann.

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.