News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Aerospace manufacturer Boeing has a qualified 3D printer OEM Stratasys’ Antero 800NA thermoplastic filament for flying parts. In this way, PEKK-based polymers can now be used to additively manufacture end-use components on Boeing aircraft.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has granted a €385K development contract to launch provider, Dawn Aerospace under the Future Launcher Preparatory Program (FLPP).
Kanfit, a specialized metal 3D printing service based in Israel, now offers additive manufacturing of aluminum parts through its sister company Kanfit3D. The new SLM 280 system enables the production of medium to high volume aluminum parts and prototypes using selective laser melting. The new system is in addition to Kanfit3D’s EOS M290 manufacturing machine based on Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) for titanium alloy Ti64G5.
In order to increase its manufacturing capacity, Firefly is transitioning large composites parts manufacturing to an automated fiber placement Ingersoll AFP Mongoose Hybrid systems from Ingersoll Machine Tools, beginning next year. Once fully operational, Firefly’s AFP capabilities will enable it to produce its all-composite Alpha rocket airframe in as little as fourteen days.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing added the Stratasys Antero 800NA thermoplastic to its additive manufacturing capabilities for printing flight parts. The announcement comes a day after the aircraft manufacturer, whose stock has been suffering due to COVID and the 737MAX grounding, announced 11 000 further job cuts by 2021. These cuts add to the 16 000 employee layoffs announced in April. The aerospace giant’s COVID and regulatory production cuts have deeply impacted its outlook to date, but the company continues to invest in AM capacity. Stratasys is another mark of Boeing’s increasing commitment to the AM space.
On these pages, we’ve often had the opportunity to show how AM is helping the still relatively young new space economy literally get off the ground. Following in Space X’s, NASA’s and ESA’s footsteps, many fascinating startups are using AM to create unique space parts, including engines, satellites and even entire rockets (are on the way). We now zoom in on a newcomer in this… space: PhytomSpace. The firm recently partnered with 3D printing specialist GKN Additive to accelerate product development and leverage the economic advantages that additive manufacturing can offer.
Satair, an Airbus services company, has provided one of its airline customers in the US with what is believed to be the first certified metal printed flying spare part. This A320ceo wingtip specific part is no longer procurable from the original supplier, thus leading to an alternate solution developed by Satair. The tailored additive manufactured solution reduces the likelihood of an AOG for this specific aircraft, and on a larger level leads to increased flexibility in part production while meeting the same high-quality standards ensured by EASA Form1 certification.
In order to address the current challenges that the aviation industry is facing due to COVID-19 restrictions, Boeing seems set to continue to invest in the future through cutting-edge, additive manufacturing technologies to unleash possibilities and leverage 3D printing – including but not limited to EOS and SLM Solutions metal systems – in the design and manufacturing of parts and tools. The aerospace giant just released a video from inside Boeing’s Auburn site in Washington State: the Boeing Additive Manufacturing (BAM) Fabrication Center was established to further the company’s efforts to develop repeatable, stable and reliable additive manufacturing processes, and meet certification and qualification requirements to increase additive manufacturing production of fly-away parts and systems.
VeriTX Corp., a marketplace for digital assets enabling decentralized manufacturing, presented the plan for a digital supply chain for aircraft parts using the Algorand blockchain technology. The VeriTX digital marketplace allows customers such as the Department of Defense and commercial airlines to save significant time and money in manufacturing aircraft parts and to gain valuable economic and logistical data that can be used to maximize efficiency.
Titomic, an Australian metal fusion additive manufacturing company, will supply an English counterpart, Hockley Pattern & Tool, with the technology to manufacture tools. The partnership extends Titomic’s reach across the globe after a long research and development process through which the company’s aerospace manufacturing technology, Titomic Kinetic Fusion, is made applicable to smaller tooling operations.