Students at TU Delft are showing the possibilities of 3 printing in stainless steel with this fully functional design for a bicycle.

Called the Arc Bicycle, it was designed by the student team and 3d printed in steel by MX3D, the office behind Amsterdam’s plans for the world’s first 3d printed steel bridge. The distinctive lattice frame was welded in layers with MX3D’s six-axis robotic arms. These innovative robots can print metals or resins in any direction mid-air, without the need for a support structure, thus allowing the creation of free form shapes and intricate lattice work such as this.

The bicycle weights the same as a standard steel frame bike and can absorb the impact of riding over cobbled roads.

The bike is part of a wider research project being undertaken at the Delft University of Technology and the 3D Building FieldLab.

You can watch a video about its production here.

Project Team Credits:

Student Team:
Harry Anderson (Industrial Design RMIT University Melbourne)
Stef de Groot (Industrial Design Engineering TU Delft)
Ainoa Areso Rossi (Civil Engineering TU Delft)
Sjoerd van de Velde (Mechanical Engineering TU Delft)
Joost Vreeken (Aerospace Engineering TU Delft)

MX3D Team:
Filippo Gilardi (Project Manager)
Jakob Schmidt (Senior Software Engineer)
Simon Rudolph (Senior Software Engineer)