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It has been more than 30 years since the invention of additive manufacturing (3D Printing) and the subsequent development of the technology. A common industrial 3D printing process involves stacking and printing layers of material on a powder bed, selectively sintering powder particles with an electron laser beam, and finally forming the final product.
3D printing presents two challenges to the long-standing dilemma of batch and range in the manufacturing industry: first, it lowers the cost of printing large-scale objects on a large scale, and second, it lowers the cost of printing small-scale objects on a small scale. A printer can produce multiple complex parts of different designs at the same time, rendering the highly centralized factory production line obsolete (and lowering the entry barrier into the local manufacturing industry). Second, 3D printing increases the variety of designs that can be created with the same amount of money invested in the process. Thus, the costs associated with manufacturing complex parts, implementing production transformation, and providing personalized customization can be reduced.
While the aerospace industry is similar in size to the large-scale manufacturing industry, it is distinguished by its emphasis on complex small-batch manufacturing. This industry is attempting to utilize the most up-to-date and cutting-edge technology available. It is also one of the most important markets for the 3D printing industry, which is a double-edged sword. It sees 3D printing as a means of overcoming the most significant challenges, which include environmental performance constraints, high manufacturing costs, and a highly competitive market environment, among other things.
When it comes to additive manufacturing, how does it benefit the aerospace industry?
Improve the efficiency of the research and development process
Engineers can design prototypes more quickly and convert conceptual designs into physical objects thanks to 3D printing. By eliminating the need for a mold and producing the final product directly, 3D printing helps to accelerate the entire research and development as well as the production process. As a result, the company can quickly test a variety of design structures, determine customer preferences, reduce the rate of product returns, and shorten the time it takes to get a product to market.
In a similar vein, additive manufacturing has advantages in the production of models and small batches of goods, which can help to reduce or eliminate the need for expensive and time-consuming shared mold manufacturing.
Crowdsourcing can be accomplished successfully using 3D printing and remote collaboration. Over time, this model may have an impact on the company's research and development. At some point in the future, crowdsourcing will displace traditional research and development methods and will become the preferred method of choice for businesses.
In 2013, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) submitted an application to improve the vertical lift system of aircraft. Boeing was able to produce the corresponding model in less than 30 days thanks to the use of 3D printing technology. If such a model is created in a different manner, it could take months.
Designing a complex component
The traditional design will be severely restricted by the limitations of production technology. Engineers used to think about the possibility and limitations of milling, rotation, casting, forging, and welding processes before they designed anything. Because of their complex structure, some topology optimization designs are unable to be produced.
Additive manufacturing is capable of producing complex plastic and metal parts, such as steel, aluminum, and other materials. Parts made of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel alloy 718 have been 3D printed and used in the aerospace industry. These two materials have a high degree of geometric flexibility, allowing for a greater range of possibilities in terms of design innovation. The use of 3D Printing, on the other hand, allows designers to ignore the limitations of traditional manufacturing and maximize the performance of their products.
Aside from that, Ge Aviation also uses additive manufacturing to manufacture turbine blades. These turbine blades have complex shapes, which are conducive to reducing air flow resistance and increasing efficiency. In the traditional method of manufacturing, these turbine blades will be extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming to construct. Ge expects to be able to mass produce these turbine blades using additive manufacturing by 2016.
Create a landing page
The characteristics of additive manufacturing that allow it to deal with high design difficulty allow it to convert complex parts into components, resulting in reduced production and a reduction in assembly time and cost. More importantly, it streamlines the process of making changes to the final design model.
Putting a design into action by means of welding or other means, theoretically, will degrade the quality and durability of the final product; therefore, it is generally discouraged from combining multiple parts.
GE has previously produced integrated fuel nozzles, which are typically composed of more than 20 individual parts and are typically used in aircraft. The 3D-printed fuel nozzle used in the Ge leap aero-engine has five times the durability of the fuel nozzle manufactured using traditional methods, according to the manufacturer.
Product is made of lightweight materials.
The weight of an aerospace vehicle is one of the most important factors to consider. When it comes to the aerospace industry, lighter weight means two things: first, it is conducive to reducing fuel consumption (and carbon dioxide emissions); second, it reduces costs and ticket prices, allowing the industry to highlight its comparative advantages.
Space vehicles also require components that are meticulously designed in order to minimize packaging space and weight. Due to the fact that these complex parts are typically produced in small quantities, manufacturing them in the traditional manner is both expensive and time-consuming.
In order to print objects with specific geometry, complementary structure, and mesh structure, laminated manufacturing technology (ALM) can be used. This technology can also help reduce material waste and reduce the weight of aviation components.
The cab hinge bracket of the Airbus A320 is 3D printed by Eads using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technology, according to the company. On the basis of ensuring the strength and performance of these components, they were able to reduce their weight by 35% - 55%, resulting in a final weight reduction of 10kg for the entire aircraft.
Material should be conserved.
Some aerospace components are made of extremely expensive materials, such as the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel 718, which are used in the aerospace industry. When working with these raw materials, traditional manufacturing methods are difficult to use. It is possible that the manufacturing process will result in a significant amount of material waste, financial waste, and energy waste due to the geometry of the components.
Despite the fact that 3D printing of metal raw materials is expensive, it has the advantage of significantly reducing material waste. In order to reduce its BTF ratio (buy to fly ratio, which is the ratio of the amount of raw materials required to manufacture a part to the amount of materials contained in the final part) from 33:1 to 1:1, Lockheed Martin of the United States employs electron beam melting technology (EBM) to manufacture its exhaust leak proof detection equipment. Despite the fact that the use of 3D printed titanium alloy is more expensive than the traditional forging process, the cost of each exhaust leak proof detection part is reduced by half, and the mechanical performance is on par with that of the traditional forging process.
Beliefs and expectations
The aerospace industry has now surpassed all other industries as the primary source of demand for additive manufacturing. This technology's unique advantages have been recognized by leaders in the aerospace industry, who have made every effort to put them to use. Although it will take some time for 3D printing technology to mature into a mature strategic role in rapid aviation manufacturing, the combination of 3D printing technology and Aerospace will undoubtedly be a perfect match in the future. In reality, there are still numerous obstacles to overcome in order to achieve this goal. Some of the most important factors at the moment are printing accuracy, manufacturing platform capacity, material cost and types of materials, as well as the ability to print multiple materials.
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