Aerospace 3D Printing
The AMOS Project is Investigating Repair and Maintenance Technologies for the Aerospace Industry
There has been enormous progress in terms of aircraft safety in the past two decades. However, last year, the Aviation Safety Network recorded a total of 15 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 556 deaths. With an estimated worldwide air traffic of about 37,800,000...
Premium AEROTEC 3D Printing Serially Produced Parts For All Airbus A350 XWB Aircraft
German aviation technology company Premium Aerotec has been making 3D printed aerospace parts for a few years now. Since 2016 they’ve been producing 3D printed parts for the A400M. The company recently bought Airbus’ own APWorks metal printing...
Auburn University Receives NASA Contract to Develop 3D Printing Techniques to Improve Liquid Rocket Engines
Back in 2015, Auburn University and NASA signed a Space Act Agreement for the purposes of exploring and advancing additive manufacturing applications and research together. The university has remained committed to 3D printing, and aerospace, over the years, working...
Aerojet Rocketdyne Acquires Daytona Beach-Headquartered 3D Material Technologies
Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings has not slowed down a bit regarding their uses for 3D printing technology, and now they will have even greater resources as they acquire 3D Material Technologies (3DMT) from ARC Group Worldwide, Inc. Hidden away in the Daytona Beach,...
Boeing Creates the First 3D Printed Metal Satellite Antenna, Saves on Mass, Time, and Costs
Boeing satellite engineers recently created what is possibly the first ever 3D printed metal antenna for a satellite that will be sent into space on the AMOS 17. Now being built by Boeing, it wasn’t originally designed to have a 3D printed antenna. However, this...
AFRL and University Partners Used 3D Printed Composite Materials to Make Structural Parts
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) near my hometown of Dayton, Ohio, has long been interested in using 3D printing and composite materials for the purposes of aerospace applications. Last year, AFRL’s...
GE Additive to Lead GA-ASI in Accelerating Industrial Growth with Additive Manufacturing
Another dynamic collaboration is in the works as General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has selected GE Additive as a consultant in their latest mission for accelerating and strengthening their metal 3D printing and additive manufacturing processes. GE’s...
Restoring Industrial Components with Directed Energy Deposition Saves Time and Costs
Welding on a micron level to restore and repair parts at a fast pace and cost effective is the core of Directed Energy Deposition or DED, also called laser engineered net shaping or LENS (Optomec’s version of DED). It’s an additive manufacturing process in which...
Chinese Scientists Building Solar Space Station, Projecting that 3D Printing & Robotics Will Assist in the Future
Once again, 3D printing and robotics are to be called on as futuristic space plans are developed, this time by the Chinese as they look toward creating a solar power station to orbit the earth at 36,000 kilometers. In an effort to continue seeking alternatives for...
Launcher & AMCM Develop Largest Known 3D Printed DMLS Rocket Engine Part
Launcher and AMCM have just announced successful production of a large single-part 3D printed rocket, now available for direct purchase from aerospace companies. The E-2 liquid rocket engine chamber was created on AMCM’s M4K 3D printer—a customized EOS M400 series...
Airbus & Farsoon Technologies in Collaboration to Develop High-Performance Polymers for Additive Manufacturing
European aerospace giant Airbus ( via its Beijing Engineering Centre Co., LTD subsidiary) and China-headquartered Farsoon Technologies have just announced they will work together in research and design of polymer additive manufacturing solutions for civil aircraft....
3D Printing News Briefs: February 8, 2019
We made it to the weekend! To celebrate, check out our 3D Printing News Briefs today, which covers business, research, and a few other topics as well. PostProcess has signed its 7th channel partner in North America, while GEFERTEC partners with Linde on 3D printing...
CRP Technology Used SLS 3D Printing and Windform XT 2.0 to Make Aircraft Model for Wind Tunnel Testing
CRP Technology, part of the larger CRP Group, is well-known for its 3D printing applications in the automotive sector, but lest we forget that it is also accomplished in aerospace 3D printing, the company has come out with a new case study about its work creating...
Interview with Matthias Schmidt-Lehr of Metal 3D Printing Consultancy Ampower
Matthias Schmidt-Lehr of Ampower is a 3D printing consultant with deep experience in manufacturing for 3D printing. He’s worked for technology development institute Laser Zentrum Nord (Fraunhofer IAPT), its manufacturing spinoff Bionic Production and has been...
BEEVERYCREATIVE Continues Work with ESA: New ISS 3D Printer to be Developed
BEEVERYCREATIVE first established an outer space connection in 2016, when the Portuguese company was asked by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop a breadboard, or prototype, 3D printer for the International Space Station. Project Manufacturing of Experimental...
US Air Force Testing 3D Printed Titanium Spare Bracket On F-22 Fighter Aircraft
Over the years, the US Air Force has turned to 3D printing numerous times, from fabricating parts for fighter jets and other aircraft components to saving thousands – even millions – of dollars by using 3D printing to make cup handles and modify...
GE News: Subsidiary AP&C Purchased New Land, GE Aviation Helping Airbus 3D Print Parts for RACER Aircraft
GE Additive‘s Canadian subsidiary, Advanced Powders & Coatings (AP&C), which produces and distributes metal powders for 3D printing, has been operating out of the Innopark Albatros in Saint-Eustache, Quebec since 2016. But last week, AP&C announced...
Top 10 3D Printing Aerospace Stories from 2018
3D printing has played an important role in many industries over the past year, such as medical, education, and aerospace. It would take a very long time to list all of the amazing news in aerospace 3D printing in 2018, which is why we’ve chosen our top 10...
Rocket Lab Successfully Launches First Mission for NASA
Rocket Lab’s year has been bookended nicely with successful launches. The startup, which uses 3D printing for its rockets’ primary components, including the engine, launched its second rocket and reached orbit for the first time in January. And yesterday,...
Relativity Space 3D Prints 11-Foot-Tall Fuel Tank with Stargate 3D Printer
Relativity Space is not alone in wanting to 3D print rockets – there are plenty of companies with the goal of doing just that. What makes Relativity stand out, however, is that it has the means to 3D print entire rockets with almost no intervention from humans....
GKN Aerospace Opens New Center of Excellence to Focus on Industry 4.0 Technologies
Today, GKN Aerospace announced that it is opening a new Global Technology Center in the United Kingdom. The center is being funded by a £17m commitment from GKN Aerospace and a £15m commitment from the UK Government, through the Aerospace Technology Institute. It is...
Researchers Investigate Applicability of Using 3D Printing for Mass Production of Satellites
As the world works to find faster, more cost-effective ways to get to space, it’s necessary to test out innovative, modern technologies, such as 3D printing, rather than stick to the more conventional but expensive methods. Most current 3D printed thermoplastic...
3D Printing News Briefs: December 4, 2018
We’re sharing stories about events, business, and metal 3D printing in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. To start, the second annual Iran 3DShow is coming up, along with IQPC’s fifth Additive Manufacturing for Aerospace & Space event in London. Moving...
Researchers Qualify 3D Printed Aerospace Brackets and use Thermoelastic Stress Analysis for Testing
3D printed aerospace brackets made from titanium alloys are becoming more common in the design of spacecraft and satellites. Any aerospace component, however, cannot just be 3D printed and stuck onto the spacecraft – it must be tested and qualified to make sure...
EOS and Etihad Airways Engineering Partner to Expand 3D Printed Aviation Applications
The United Arab Emirates’ Etihad Airways has long been serious about incorporating 3D printing into its airplanes, particularly cabin components. Now Etihad Airways Engineering, the largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provided in the...
