Abstract
One of the important challenges present nowadays in the automotive industry is minimizing of a car components design time. Traditional manufacturing of a prototype is usually a time and a cost consuming process. Alternatively, rapid prototyping techniques can be used in such a case. In the reported research a brake caliper was investigated, since it is an example of an element, which should have very strictly defined structural dynamic properties. As a technique of rapid prototyping of the considered caliper the 3D printing of a mould was selected. A process of the caliper casting with the use of the "prototype" mould is different than the one with the use of the metal form. Thus it is very likely that the both considered types of the caliper would possess different properties from the point of view of structural dynamics.Structural dynamic properties can be analyzed both numerically and experimentally. Simulation of the caliper FE model with uncertain parameters was used to analyze influence of various caliper parameters on its natural frequency values. Modal testing of the caliper was performed with the aim of investigation of applicability of Experimental Modal Analysis for determination of variability of natural frequencies resulting from the manufacturing process. In the course of this research, the natural frequencies of the prototype caliper and the standard caliper were compared.