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I started writing the comment with "I highly doubt it", but as I was writing, I think it is a very interesting question. And it might be possible. Like you sai
by LeonM 5y ago
I started writing the comment with "I highly doubt it", but as I was writing, I think it is a very interesting question. And it might be possible.
Like you said, spark plugs require high-heat and high electrical insulation properties. Hence why spark plugs are made out of ceramics (or glass) and metal.
Spark plugs also have a heat rating, which indicates how well the plug is able to extract heat from the tip. If the heat extracting properties of the plug aren't just right, a modern turbocharged engine will not run properly.
Lastly, with the power output of modern coil-on-plug designs, the electric arcs will eat away the electrode quite quickly. That is why spark plugs have a coating on the electrodes to increase longevity.
3D-printing of ceramics is possible, though I do not know how the properties of ceramic polymer filaments hold up. The metal parts will require high resolution (the threads, the spark gap).
So yeah, it might be possible to 3D-print a spark plug, but it will require expensive machines (metal printing, ceramics printing) and the resulting plug will be orders of magnitude more expensive as a traditionally created spark plug. It will also not last as long.
- an1sotropy 5y agoThanks for sharing this educational info about spark plugs. Can you think of other common (even if usually unseen) objects that are especially bad matches for what 3D printing can practically create? Optical lenses and ball bearings also come to mind, but somehow they are less interesting than spark plugs.
- pasabagi 5y agoI think 3D printing the spark plug itself would be the wrong approach. You could get a better result by designing and printing a jig for making spark plugs - perhaps a couple of pieces? So like, one extruder for making ceramic tubes, then a lathe for working the ceramic while it's still soft? My own messing around with a 3d printer has generally confirmed it's an amazing tool for making jigs of all kinds, but the actual prints aren't usually that useful in and of themselves.
- ben_w 5y agoI reached a similar conclusion a while back, when a previous partner was talking about the benefits of mensural cups and how annoyingly expensive they were, and how making them cheaper could help young girls in certain 3rd world countries finish their education without being embarrassed out of the classroom the moment they reach puberty. (My ex said there were other issues besides cost, but cost had to be solved as well). While it is possible to 3D print silicone, and while that would still be cheaper than anything I see on the first page of Amazon search results even today, it was clearly much more sensible to 3D print a reusable mould to pour silicone into. Then you can expand the idea into a cottage industry by having multiple moulds, with fluid channels, as a single unit. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation suggested a 3D printed multi-mould the size of a shipping container would supply all global demand for mensural cups, but then I found Alibaba and it listed mensural cups for less per hundred than the local store listed them per unit[0], and I figured the purchase price already had nothing to do with manufacturing costs and wasn’t something I could optimise. [0] at the time, they’re only 20-30 times cheaper today
- _def 5y agoI came to the same conclusion. There are many things you can print which are good enough, but I feel like that a 3d printer shines for making tools