VOA常速英语2015--3D打印制作标志性跑车的复制品

3D Printer Makes Replica¹ of Iconic Sports Car 3D打印制作标志性跑车的复制品

Cars with parts made by 3D printers are already on the road, but engineers are still learning about this new technology. While testing the possibility of printing an entire car, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy recently created an electric-powered replica of an iconic sports roadster.

用3D打印零部件组装的汽车已经上路，但是工程师们仍然在研究这项新技术。在测试打印整车可能性的同时，美国能源部的研究人员最近创作了一辆电动的标志运动跑车的复制品。

AC Cobra, also known as Ford²/Shelby Cobra, is an Anglo-American, two-seater sports car, manufactured intermittently³ since 1962. It competed in a number of road races but, because it was so expensive, it never sold in large numbers.

“AC眼镜蛇”，也叫做“福特/谢尔比眼镜蛇”，是一款英美式双座跑车；自1962年以来曾断断续续生产。它曾经参加许多次路赛，但是由于造价太昂贵，从来没有大量出售。

Attempting to bring it back as a retro sports car, Ford unveiled a modernized⁴ version at the Detroit Auto⁵ show in 2004.

为将这款车做成怀旧型跑车，福特公司在2004年底特律车展上，推出了一个现代化的版本，

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy recently displayed yet another version, this time with electric propulsion and a plastic body printed in a 3D printer.

美国能源部的研究人员最近展示了另外一个版本，这一次带有电力推进和3D打印的塑料车身。

Robert Ivester of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office says the goal wasn't to build a Cobra. Instead, researchers wanted a way to test several things relevant to printing large-scale objects.

能源部先进制造办公室的罗伯特?艾夫斯特表示，他们的目的并不是要制造一辆“眼镜蛇”。相反，研究人员是想测试与3D打印大型物件相关的几个问题。

“The capability⁶ to balance thermal⁷ loads was an important one, the ability to achieve very, very high-quality, professional-grade surface finish, the ability to custom design around components⁸ that we were going to put in. So, this example has one motor and battery but we could relatively⁹ easily change over to a completely different motor and battery, power train, suspension system, because of 3D printing," said Ivester.

他说: “平衡热负荷的能力是一项很重要的问题；实现非常、非常高品质和专业级表面光洁度的能力；以及自定义设计零部件环境的能力是其它几项问题。因此，这个样品车有一个马达和电池；有了3D打印技术，但我们可以比较容易地将其改变为完全不同的电机、电池、传动系统和防震系统。”

The flexibility¹⁰ of 3D printing proved to be a great advantage. Ivester says the car was built in six weeks by a group of six people at the Oak Ridge¹¹ National Laboratory, in Tennessee.

3D打印技术的灵活性是一个很大的优势。艾夫斯特说，这辆车是由田纳西州橡树岭国家实验室的六个人用了六个星期制作的。

"It’s printed in about six pieces – there's one piece that's the core chassis¹² and mechanical structure. And the front end and the back end of the body were each produced in a couple of pieces that were joined to each other and then bolted on to the chassis," he said.

他说:“它被印成大约六块---有一块是核心的底盘和机械结构。而车身前端和后端各自制成两块，然后两块相互连接，用螺丝固定在底盘上。”

During tests at the National Transportation Research Center, the car reached 128 kilometers per hour, with acceleration¹³ of about eight seconds to 100 kmh. Not quite as fast as cars on the road today but respectable. The real value of 3D printing is its speed, and versatility¹⁴.

在国家运输研究中心进行测试期间，这辆车达到了128公里的时速。大约8秒钟可提速到100 公里。虽然不如目前道路上跑着的车快，但是还是相当不错的。3D打印技术的真正价值是其速度和灵活性。

One of the most important advantages of large-scale 3D printing for the automotive industry could be the manufacture of molds and dies for sheet metal car body parts, usually a critical production bottleneck¹⁵.

对汽车工业来说，大型3D打印技术最重要的优点之一，可能是模具制造和车身部件的钣金制造；而这通常是关键的生产瓶颈。

“With a metal mold they’re going to start from a monolithic¹⁶ metal block and machine away all the pieces that they don’t need. And the finishing process just takes long. So the typical response time for an automotive scale mold is at least nine months. And we can do it in 48 hours with printing," said Ivester.

美国能源部的艾夫斯特说:“利用金属模具，他们从单片金属块开始，用机器去掉不需要的部分。最后的加工工序需要很长时间。所以汽车大型模具的典型反应时间为至少九个月。我们可以利用3D打印技术在48小时内完成。 ”

Ivester says his department is now researching whether 3D printing of molds and dies could be used to build parts for wind turbines.

艾夫斯特表示，他的部门目前正在研究是否可以使用3D打印模具和钣金，来制造风力涡轮机零件。

1 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 intermittently   

adv.间歇地；断断续续

参考例句：

• Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. 温斯顿只能断断续续地记得为什么这么痛。 来自英汉文学
• The resin moves intermittently down and out of the bed. 树脂周期地向下移动和移出床层。 来自辞典例句

4 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

5 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

6 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

7 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

8 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

11 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

12 chassis   

n.汽车等之底盘；（飞机的）起落架；炮底架

参考例句：

• The new parts may include the sheet metal,the transmission,or the chassis.新部件可能包括钢壳，变速器或底盘。
• Can chassis and whole-vehicle manufacturers co-exist peacefully?底盘企业和整车企业能相安无事吗？

13 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

14 versatility   

n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能

参考例句：

• Versatility is another of your strong points,but don't overdo it by having too many irons in the fire.你还有一个长处是多才多艺，但不要揽事太多而太露锋芒。
• This versatility comes from a dual weather influence.这种多样性是由于双重的气候影响而形成的。

15 bottleneck   

n.瓶颈口，交通易阻的狭口；妨生产流程的一环

参考例句：

• The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
• China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。

16 monolithic   

adj.似独块巨石的；整体的

参考例句：

• Don't think this gang is monolithic.不要以为这帮人是铁板一块。
• Mathematics is not a single monolithic structure of absolute truth.数学并不是绝对真理的单一整体结构。