3D printed deflector hood

Covestro's logo

The case study that resulted from our collaboration with Covestro is a perfect example of the benefits that additive manufacturing offers. For a client, CEAD designed and printed a deflector hood. It has an outer jacket and on the inside is a tube that catches and flows away rainwater. A deflector hood is placed on top of a chimney. The air outflow is blown vertically upwards. The rainwater is collected in the bowl and drained through a pipe. These hoods thus function as a chimney allowing the smoke/exhaust fumes to exit, while the pile is being protected from the rain and the elements.

Generally speaking, these caps are manufactured from metal sheets which are rolled into shape. This specific shape is quite complex to construct using traditional methods. Furthermore, making the hood watertight can be quite difficult. 

Advantage of using additive manufacturing

Large scale 3D printing is able to combine two functionalities: simplifying production and waterproofing. The shape of the hood lends itself very well to the large scale 3D printing process. Additionally, since the hood is printed in as one piece, it is immediately waterproof. 

Additive manufacturing is not only able to solve the problems listed above, it is also able to provide more benefits. Once designed, the deflector caps can be built with the push of a button. The construction process no longer depends on highly skilled personnel.  

Material and the printing process

For this project Covestro supplied CEAD with their Arnilene® AM6001, a reinforced PP optimized for FGF printing. The grade combines the well-known performance of PP with consistent print behavior. As a result, the user is able to produce high-quality and consistently printed parts effortlessly. The deflector hood was printed in five hours with a total weight of seven kilograms.

Key benefits for project ‘Deflector hood’;

  • Consistent print behavior enables production of water-tight parts.
  • Overall chemical resistance of polypropylene.
example of large scale additive manufacturing