3D printing reaches new heights in aerospace manufacturing

摘要

Here, Scott Sevcik, VP Aerospace Business Segment at Stratasys, looks at some of the current trends and developments that highlight the technology's ongoing ability to deliver opportunities for aerospace manufacturers and their suppliers. The relationship between the aerospace and additive manufacturing (AM) industries is continually strengthening and evolving, with both sectors driven by innovation and change. AM, using lightweight materials, is able to produce complex geometries not possible with conventional production methods, as well as offering high levels of customisation. Therefore, it caters to the needs of aerospace manufacturers, who continually strive to achieve faster speeds and utilise complex part designs to increase efficiency. While AM is still viewed as a relatively young industry, both aerospace and aircraft interior OEMs have been leveraging the most common additive manufacturing technology, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), for the better part of 30 years for prototyping. Fast forward a few decades and today, the portfolio of FDM materials is expanding to meet the stringent requirements necessary to make interior aircraft parts lightworthy. The level of repeatability achievable by high-performance systems enables the production of parts with consistent performance.