News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Made In Space, the company responsible for sending the first 3D printer into space, has announced a significant milestone in the development of its Archinaut program. The California-based company has successfully demonstrated the Archinaut’s additive manufacturing and robotic assembly capabilities in a space-like environment.
Elon Musk’s privately owned commercial space venture SpaceX – which one day will f ...
Chinese additive manufacturing company Farsoon Technologies is teaming up with Airbus Beijing Engineering Centre Co., Ltd. (ABEC) to establish an R&D program for polymer 3D printing in civil aviation. The partnership agreement signals the first time that the aerospace giant has collaborated with a polymer AM specialist from China.
Additive manufacturing company Norsk Titanium and engineering standards association SAE International have introduced the first specifications for direct energy deposition (DED) 3D printing. The new specifications establish the minimum requirements for the procurement of Norsk Titanium’s Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) Preforms by aerospace (or non-aerospace) customers.
Aerospace startup Relativity Space has been granted a new patent for its autonomous 3D printing technology. The patent covers the company’s innovative machine-learning metal additive manufacturing platform which it leverages to produce rockets and launch vehicles for space.
Airbus will stop production of its giant Airbus A380 models due to low demand for the huge and hugely expensive aircraft. This is not something directly related to 3D printing but it does affect the AM industry indirectly as Airbus is Europe’s largest user of AM technologies and the A380 did feature a number of 3D printed parts.
Typically, when one thinks of additive manufacturing in the aerospace industry, it is of cutting edge metal AM technologies, used to fabricate complex parts. However, the vast number of applications within the aerospace field also calls for other AM processes, including FDM polymer capabilities. To fulfill this need, leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus has partnered with desktop 3D printing company Ultimaker.
British aerospace company Orbex has flown slightly under the radar when it comes to additive manufacturing. Until now, that is. The company has revealed that it manufactured the world’s largest metal rocket engine 3D printed in a single piece. The Orbex launcher was 3D printed using the SLM800 metal 3D printer from German AM company SLM Solutions.
NASA astronauts have reportedly installed the first combination 3D printer and plastic recycling system aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The device, called the Refabricator, was developed by Tethers Unlimited and will enable astronauts to not only 3D print in space but also recycle and reuse plastic materials.
Airbus and Dassault Systèmes have signed a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to cooperate on the implementation of collaborative 3D design, engineering, manufacturing, simulation and intelligence applications. This will enable Airbus to take a major step forward in its digital transformation and lay the foundation for a new European industrial ecosystem in aviation.