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3D printing could reduce airplane's weight by 4 to 7 percent
AEROSPACE INDUSTRY : 3-D printing could reduce airplane's weight by 4 to 7 percent
Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS) and one of the world’s largest 3D printing and advanced manufacturing service providers, has been chosen by Airbus to produce 3D printed polymer parts for use on A350 XWB aircraft. The company will print non-structural parts such as brackets, and other parts used for system installation, on Stratasys FDM production 3D Printers using ULTEM™ 9085 material. The project will help Airbus achieve greater supply chain flexibility and improve cost competitiveness, while leveraging on reduced material consumption and waste.
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Process : Stratasys used an ULTEM 9085 resin, which is certified to an Airbus material specification, to fabricate each part on an FDM 3D printer, melting the resin and extruding it layer by layer until entire parts are fabricated. This production method not only produces parts which are lighter in weight and incredibly strong, but they also are FST (flame, smoke, and toxicity) compliant. Stratasys solutions offer design freedom and manufacturing flexibility, reducing time-to-market and lowering development costs, while improving products and communication. Subsidiaries include MakerBot and Solidscape, as well as Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, which offers 3D printed parts on demand. Conventional manufacturing methods tend to be inefficient and wasteful. To produce a 1-kilogram bracket for an airplane, for example, it may require 10 kilograms of raw material input into the manufacturing process. And, from an engineering design perspective, that final bracket may still contain much more metal than is required for the job. 3D-printing, on the other hand, requires far less raw material inputs and can further produce parts that minimize weight through better design.
A350 XWB aircraft interior. Photo: Stratasys Brackets 3D printed on the Fortus 900mc Production 3D Printer. Image via Stratasys.
