Porsche Tests Metal Additively Manufactured Pistons in its 911 GT2 RS Engine

The additively manufactured pistons were developed at Mahle (Courtesy Mahle)
Porsche, in cooperation with its partners Mahle, Stuttgart, Germany, and Trumpf, Ditizingen, Germany, recently used metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) to produce a series of aluminum pistons for the high-performance engine of its 911 flagship model, the GT2 RS sports car. 
The automaker already uses AM technology for prototypes and in the manufacture of spare parts for classic sports cares, as well as in some other areas. Using Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) technology from Trumpf to produce the GT2 RS pistons, Porsche believes it is establishing a new milestone in the use of AM for highly-stressed drive components.
The use of AM allowed the pistons to be manufactured with a structure optimized for the loads acting on them. As a result, the additively manufactured pistons weigh 10% less than the forged pistons which Porsche has conventionally used.