News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Metal AM company Sintavia, LLC announced its acquisition of QC Laboratories, Inc., a Florida-based non-destructive testing (NDT) services company. The acquisition will enable Sintavia to expand and advance its NDT capabilities for commercial aerospace applications, especially for surface finish conformance testing.
The future of space exploration as we imagine it is not going to be possible without the heavy implementation of 3D printing technologies, intended in a broad sense as digital, additive and robotic manufacturing processes. Now NASA has awarded a $73.7 million contract to Made In Space, Inc. of Mountain View, California, to demonstrate the ability of its small spacecraft, called Archinaut One, to manufacture and assemble (3D print) spacecraft components in low-Earth orbit. Made in Space ‘s spaceborne construction 3D printer will launch aboard the Rocket Lab 3D rocket, powered by 3D printed engines, no earlier than 2022.
Humans have long wanted to put a person on Mars, and today many steps towards achieving this decades-old goal are being taken. Things like housing, food, construction materials and medical treatments will be necessary in order for humans to exist on Mars, and researchers from space agencies and companies around the world are coming up with novel solutions to address these basic issues. NASA, for instance, recently awarded AI SpaceFactory first place in its 3D Printed Habitat Challenge for developing a 3D printed housing solution that could be viable on Mars or the Moon.
Rocket Lab, a small satellite launch company, has announced the successful completion of its 100th Rutherford engine, the world’s first 3D printed, electric turbo-pump-fed engine. The company is celebrating the milestone, emphasizing how far it has come since it first started developing the innovative 3D printed rocket engine in 2013.
Carnegie Mellon has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to lead a research team dedicated to examining new ways to build and power aircraft of the future, through NASA’s University Leadership Initiative. As part of the Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program, Carnegie Mellon will help solve the nation’s most pressing problems in aviation.
The very niche subsegment of 3D bioprinting in space has had a development that we’re excited to report: Swedish bioprinting company CELLINK recently announced that it sent 3D bioprinted stem cells into space. The initiative, brought to fruition through a partnership with scientists from Uppsala University, aims to accelerate the development of a 3D neural stem cell system in order to provide vital insight on how changes in gravity effect cellular properties.
The Paris Air Show was a huge success for the largest aerospace players and for many innovative aerospace 3D printing companies. The aviation and space industries are rocketing toward booming growth with no slow down anywhere on the horizon. While additive manufacturing is still just a tiny – to use a euphemism – segment of aerospace manufacturing, all leading companies in aerospace are very much invested in developing it. The reason may be found in one of the largest deals ever closed during the show: the $55 billion in orders that CFM – a joint venture between GE and Safran – received for its LEAP engine. The LEAP engine is super efficient and is enabling a new generation of single-aisle jets – such as the Airbus321neo flown by French operator Le Compagnie in its new all-business flights – to make trips across the Atlantic on a single tank of fuel.
VELO3D, a specialist in support-free metal 3D printing, has announced a new partnership with Colorado-based aircraft manufacturer Boom Supersonic. Together, the companies will leverage VELO3D’s Intelligent Fusion additive manufacturing technology to produce metal components for the XB-1, Boom Supersonic’s Mach-2.2 supersonic demonstrator aircraft.
Carpenter Technology Corporation and Belgium-based BMT Aerospace are cooperating in the development of an additively manufactured (AM) aerospace pinion, using Carpenter Technology’s Custom 465 Stainless. The collaboration was announced at the ongoing Paris Air Show.
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced this week that it has chosen Siemens Digital Industries Software to develop aerospace design applications for metal additive manufacturing. The collaboration, to be carried out through the two-year Design4AM project, will leverage Siemens’ end-to-end software solution for industrial AM and be supported by Sonaca, a specialist in aerospace structures.