Case Study: Amtrak achieves rapid, on-time life-size cockpit prototyping for the new Acela with 3D Platform

Using 3D Printers to help prototype the cockpit design for Amtrak trains

Alstom and Amtrak partnered to design the next-generation Acela and needed a full-scale prototype of the power car cockpit to validate complex shapes, colors and finishes. The challenge: produce nine large, paint-ready cockpit panels (some over two meters wide) on a very tight schedule—work that exceeded Alstom’s in-house printing capacity.

3D Platform stepped in, using its large-format WorkSeries 200/300/400 machines to print 21 sections (some parts printed in halves and glued) and at peak ran ten printers simultaneously to meet the deadline. Parts were post-processed with automotive putty, sanded and primed for paint; all nine panels were delivered on time (October 2019), enabling a life-size driver’s cabin mock-up and keeping the Acela prototyping program on schedule.

Amtrak