3D printers assisted with production of unique basketball trophy

The team of the 3D technology department at CXI TUL participated in the production of a unique cup. The traveling trophy for the winners of the National Basketball League was created on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of basketball in the Czech Republic. The cup, printed in metal, bears the name of basketball legend Jiří Zídek and will be contested by the best Czech basketball teams for the next 10 years. What makes it unique is that it is the first sports trophy in the Czech Republic to be produced using 3D printing. We talked to Michal Ackermann from CXI TUL, who created the trophy, about its production.

 

You participated in the production of a unique trophy for the winners of the basketball league. How did it all come about?

Our 3D technology department from CXI TUL was approached in early February by our partners from Prusa Research, with whom we have long been cooperating professionally. We helped with assisting in the production of the metal parts of the trophy. It is a complex design that we managed perfectly thanks to our technologies.

 

How exactly did CXI TUL get involved in the preparation of the trophy? How was the cooperation on the new trophy for the winners of the basketball league special for you?

First, we presented the design of the trophy and in cooperation with its author Petr Vacek and the PrusaLab team we agreed on the form of the trophy. Since the trophy design is really complex in shape, we proposed to produce it using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) additive manufacturing technology using the SLM280HL machine. Due to the limitations given by the size of the building space of the machine, we had to design the division of the trophy. We phased its printing into segments, which were welded into a unified whole after production. The production of the trophy was particularly unique because even after the splitting it was a dimensionally large part, but made up of narrow bars. In order to maintain sufficient precision in production, very demanding planning of support structures and overall production strategy was required. We finished the last parts completely at the beginning of March, about 4 weeks later.

 

Have you been involved in similar collaborations in the past or was this your first time?

Our entire 3D Technology Department team was involved in the project, handling everything from print design, communication with PrusaLab colleagues, production to post-process operations. In the past, we have dealt with printing a similar type of product from AlSi10Mg alloy. The scope of work and the material used for the trophy for the National Basketball League was clearly more challenging. For the project, we chose stainless, heat-hardened AISI 17-4PH steel. The big challenge was to design sufficiently durable support structures that could be removed as easily as possible afterwards. The chosen material is subject to significant internal stresses during production, which, if not followed in the appropriate technological procedures, leads to deformation and product deterioration.

 

What was the biggest challenge from your point of view?

The biggest challenge was definitely the speed with which all the parts had to be delivered. Printing the parts alone took a total of 94 hours of machine time, but all the preparation and finishing processes were significantly more time consuming. At the same time, it was one of the fastest projects for our site due to the scale of production.

 

How are you personally satisfied with the trophy?

I am very happy for this opportunity to contribute to this unconventional realization. In working on this piece, we have professionally moved up another notch in the field of 3D metal printing.

 

 

WHAT THE CUP LOOKS LIKE AND WHO CREATED IT

The design of the cup was created by architect Petr Vacek, who designed it specifically for 3D printing from metal. The Institute for Nanomaterials of the Technical University of Liberec took care of this using SLM (Selective Laser Melting) technology. The bottom part of the trophy with the plaques was created in PrusaLab using CNC machining, on which the names of the winners will be laser engraved in the coming years. The dominating feature of the trophy is a basketball with a transparent resin casing containing fragments of 24-carat gold.

 

 

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE CUP

Height: 63 centimetres
weight: 15 kilograms

 

FOUNDER:

- top and bottom made by CNC turning and milling of stainless steel;
- fitted with milled and laser engraved brass signs;
- CNC turned and laser engraved brass insert with competition logo;
- FDM 3D printed interior made of Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber (PCCF)

NET:

- printing on 7 pieces in XCI TUL stainless steel 17-4PH;
- TIG welding;
- weld grinding;
- plastering;

BALL:

- printing on 18 pieces in CXI TUL stainless steel 17-4PH;
- TIG welding;
- weld grinding;
- Resin parts fabrication using 23.75 carat gold and pigments;
- grinding parts to shape