The much-anticipated 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has come to a successful conclusion. At the event, which has been full of "science and technology" since the opening ceremony, participants from all over the world, with the Olympic spirit of "faster, higher, stronger and more united", presented the audience with wonderful high-level competitions.

The road to an Olympic medal is not easy. Perfect performance requires years of hard training. But with the development of science and technology, more and more high-tech means are applied to the preparation and competition.

3D athlete tracking, for example, uses advanced AI and computer vision motion tracking capabilities to produce accurate performance analysis. Another example is the use of additive manufacturing to quickly create tailor-made molds for athletes, giving them more time to prepare for tests.

Racing on ice, 3D printing molds have significant advantages

In the Winter Olympic ice events, the luge is the king of speed, with speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour. Nicknamed "lying down to win," the race is actually the most dangerous and exciting game of daredevil, in which athletes speed down a zigzagging downhill course with their skids underneath them.

The difference between winning and losing is often only a thousandth of a second, so the design of the sled is crucial. In order to stand out in this race against the clock, in addition to the scientific training of the athletes, the innovation of the manufacturing technology of the slide is equally important. Stratasys 3D printed the mold for the luge used by the U.S. bobsled team at the Winter Olympics.

The main sled cabin layup mold was 3D printed using ASA thermoplastic

In order to develop the fastest sled in the shortest time, the US bobsled team started experimenting with 3D printing before the last Winter Olympics.

Mark Grimmette, head of USA Luge, said:

"Our coaches and athletes are always thinking of new ways to get faster on the track. "The advantage of 3D printing is that it helps us translate concepts into real objects on the ice faster."

Tower assembly mold printed using soluble ST-130 material

Compared to traditional technologies used in the past, 3D printing produces shorter production iterations, more flexible designs, and sturdier products, giving prep teams more opportunities to test and adjust. Specifically, it includes the following highlights:

Stratasys used FDM® technology to 3D-print the sled molds for its team, instead of the time-consuming fibreglass layering that used to be the norm. This reduced the manufacturing time for the new molds from two to three months to two weeks.

For optimal performance, 3D printed molds are designed to be tailored to the athlete's characteristics, allowing iterations to be completed in a matter of days, and lower production costs for small batches and highly customized operations.

When printing most of its molds, Stratasys chooses thermoplastic, a flexible material that gives the structure a higher quality. For some complex structures, the 3D printing team wrapped and solidified the mold in carbon fiber, then rinsed off the soluble material, leaving the composite shape intact.

Of course, Stratasys' 3D printing technology has also been used to produce many other extreme sports equipment and parts, such as snowboards and F1 racing parts.

With the outstanding advantages of additive manufacturing technology, such as high efficiency, flexibility, economy and light weight, more and more product manufacturers and sports groups choose to use technology to empower design, to meet challenges with innovation, and to continuously break through the limitations and boundaries of production and manufacturing.