BLISK AND BRACKETS SERIES

BLISK AND BRACKETS SERIES

Metal AM can be thought of as a series of microsized welding operations. This is why robust process control is crucial, no matter what youвЂ™re making or how it's made.Д¬onstructing parts with laser beams and metal powder raises this most basic of manufacturing tenets to an entirely new level. But if the parts are bad or quality inconsistent, budgets can be overrun. Millions of operationsДЄsk any machinist, sheet metal worker, or manufacturing engineer and they'll all tell you the same thing: Lightweighting might be great and shorter lead times and lower production costs are every manufacturerвЂ™s goal.

Lasers can fall out of alignment, recoater blades can crash into workpieces, and build chambers can leak just enough to make part quality questionable.ДЇor all its capabilities, metal 3D printing has been, in many ways, a relatively immature process. The potential for porosity and layer delamination during the printing process requires manufacturers to validate part integrity with expensive and time-consuming CT or X-ray scanning. The internal channels in this rocket nozzle component are nearly impossible to print in existing metal 3D printers. Build failures are an all-too-common occurrence, leading to production delays, unplanned costs, and supply chain uncertainty. While metal AM has come a long way in aerospace, results can still be less than perfect-or at least a long time in coming because of necessary production reruns. These are just a few examples of the ways that metal AM is taking us farther, faster, and more cost-effectively than ever before. Rolls-Royce is 3D printing parts for its Trent XWB-97 engine, and the U.K.вЂ™s Orbex recently built the worldвЂ™s largest 3D-printed rocket engine. The Ruag Group is 3D printing topology-optimized antenna brackets for Sentinel satellites. Similarly, aircraft manufacturer Airbus has begun using 3D-printed titanium brackets on the airframe of its A350 XWB commercial airliner, a first in the aviation industry.Д«oom Supersonic is testing additively manufactured flight hardware for the XB-1 supersonic jet.

ItвЂ™s a model success story, but whatвЂ™s perhaps more notable is the companyвЂ™s adoption of 3D-printed parts for its new Catalyst turboprop engine, condensing what would have been 800 conventionally produced components to just a dozen 3D-printed ones. Most in the industry have heard about GE AviationвЂ™s 3D printing of more than 30,000 LEAP fuel nozzles, a move that reportedly cut the complex componentвЂ™s cost by 30 per cent while providing fivefold greater durability. ItвЂ™s for these reasons and others that aerospace companies everywhere are embracing the ability to 3D print fully functional prototype and end-use metal parts.

And because moulds, dies, and other such tooling is not needed to produce 3D-printed parts, manufacturing lead times are also significantly reduced, potentially shaving months or even years from product development cycles. What were once complex assemblies now can be printed as single units, simplifying the supply chain while improving component integrity. Less material generally means less machining, further reducing production costs. Topology optimization and generative design software, together with additive manufacturingвЂ™s (AM) ability to produce previously unimaginable geometries, create 3D-printed parts that are typically both lighter and stronger than their conventionally produced counterparts, reducing aircraft weight and cutting millions of dollars in fuel costs.Д«ecause 3D-printed parts come out of the build chamber at near-net shape, thereвЂ™s also less material waste, a factor thatвЂ™s particularly important with titanium, INCONELВ®, and other expensive aerospace alloys. Nearly three decades after the industryвЂ™s first вЂњwhat ifвЂќ discussions on metal 3D printing, this now-mature technology has become the preferred option for numerous manufacturing needs, particularly those of the aerospace sector. Companies now can print parts like this without supports.

This 3D-printed blisk is an aeroengine component with low angles that traditionally have made it a poor candidate for additive manufacturing because of the need for support structures.

Blisk and brackets