CRP Technology, CRP Meccanica boost Alpine Hy6 concept car with 3D printed intake

AlpenglowHy6. Source | Alpine Design

CRP Technology (Modena, Italy) and CRP Meccanica (Modena) have collaborated with sports and racing car manufacturer Alpine (Dieppe, France) in the development and manufacturing of the intake plenum and manifold system for the Alpenglow Hy6, the company’s hydrogen-powered rolling prototype.

The initial configuration combined 3D printed polymer parts with bonded aluminum flanges, which caused sealing issues during bench testing due to thermal expansion differences, vibration and high thermal loads.

Concept car (above). Final version with flanges directly integrated and monolithically 3D printed in Windform SP (below). Sources | Alpine Design (top), CRP Technology (bottom) 

To address these limitations, Alpine turned to CRP Technology, which proposed a fully monolithic architecture produced via selective laser sintering (SLS) using carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) Windform SP, requiring only minor design adjustments.

The final system consists of three monolithic components — one intake plenum and two intake manifolds — with integrated flanges that eliminate aluminum parts and ensure uniform material behavior under turbocharged operation.

After sintering, vapor smoothing optimized internal surfaces, while CNC machining by CRP Meccanica ensured accurate fit and sealing through a hybrid additive-subtractive workflow developed within the CRP organization.

The intake system successfully passed engine dyno validation, maintaining structural integrity under pressure cycles up to 5 bar, and was later installed on the Alpenglow Hy6 prototype for on-track testing, supporting faster development within Alpine’s hydrogen powertrain program.

See how 3D printing is also advancing aeroengines with this story about Greene Tweed’s thermoplastic composite guide vanes.