Aerospace 3D Printing
Honeycomb structures: from infill to bicycle tires
Although famously known for producing honey, bees are also master wax producers and beekeepers like me will (given the chance) wax lyrical about how ingenious these tiny engineers are in creating their homes. Each waxy cell is a perfect hexagon and it is this...
3D Printing News Briefs: August 3, 2018
On today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re giving you the rundown on some of the latest 3D printing stories to get you into the weekend. Sintratec has welcomed a new distribution partner in South Korea, and CRP USA will be attending the upcoming SmallSat...
Archinaut Enables Production of More Powerful Small Satellites
Made In Space started building its Archinaut system a couple of years ago – essentially a 3D printer with a robotic arm capable of building in the vacuum of space. The purpose of the machine was to be able to build and repair satellites in space, creating larger...
3D Printing News Briefs: August 1, 2018
We’re starting out with a little business in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, then moving on to planes, automobiles, and camping, followed by some medical news. Renishaw just received a business award and EOS signed an agreement with Z3DFAB. UTC Aerospace...
Fabrisonic’s Whitepaper on Metal 3D Printed Heat Exchangers for NASA JPL
Founded in 2011, Ohio-based Fabrisonic uses its hybrid metal 3D printing process, called Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM), to merge layers of metal foil together in a solid-state thanks to high frequency ultrasonic vibrations. Fabrisonic mounts its patented...
US Air Force Base in Utah Creating 3D Printed Replacement Parts for F-35 Fighter Jets
The US military has not shied away from implementing modern manufacturing methods such as 3D printing, but has actually embraced the technology. In fact, the US Air Force has used 3D printing for multiple projects, including components for aircraft and fighter jets,...
Airbus Signs Agreement to Help Singapore Agency 3D Print Aircraft Parts
3D printing is becoming widespread in the aerospace industry, but one of the biggest enthusiasts of the technology has always been Airbus. From satellites to robots, Airbus is using 3D printing in nearly every aspect of its business, especially its airplanes. The...
Launcher a space start up making..3D Printed Rocket Engines
Launcher inc. is a company making metal 3D printed rocket engines. The so far operating under the radar firm has spent the past year using EOS metal 3D printers to make rocket components. They’ve then done firing tests with these components and are inching close...
Metal 3D Printing Material Scalmalloy Could be the Aircraft Material of the Future
Aviation is one of the many industries around the world that’s increasing its adoption of 3D printing, which can be used to create the lightweight components and complex parts that are necessary for an airplane. The technology makes these parts with repeatable...
GE Additive Partnering Up with Honda and Triumph Group for 3D Printing Acceleration
GE Additive, which is attending the Farnborough International Airshow this week, has been busily dropping announcements from the trade fair, the latest of which is centered around its AddWorks additive consulting service provider. GE Additive and AddWorks were chosen...
Lockheed Martin 3D Prints Large Titanium Domes for Satellite Fuel Tanks
Global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin has made many significant contributions to its industry through the use of 3D printing, from propulsion tanks and spacecraft parts to missile components and fuel tanks. The company, which received three Edison...
Oerlikon and Lufthansa Technik to Create Repeatable 3D Printing Processes and Standards in Aircraft MRO Industry
While standards and regulations in any type of industry are necessary, it’s of the utmost importance to properly set them up in the aerospace field, especially when it comes to 3D printed parts and components – people’s lives are actually at stake....
United Technologies’ Restructuring Impact on the 3D Printer Industry
United Technologies is a company that needs no introduction. They are a leading innovator and developer of commercial products in a myriad of industries including aircraft engines, aerospace systems, HVAC, elevators, and escalators. Since 2015, the firm has been both...
3D Printing Replacement Parts for a Nuclear Warhead
The W80 nuclear warhead is a small American thermonuclear warhead designed for deployment on cruise missiles. A program has been implemented to extend the life of the warhead, called the W80-4 LEP, or life extension program. Recently the National Nuclear Security...
Sogeclair Believes 3D Printed Casting Patterns are the Key to the Airplane Door of the Future
Flying can be a sublime experience, especially when the plane’s design has been carefully considered and executed. Despite our human instinct to believe that supremely heavy objects such as planes or ships should neither fly nor float, their engineering allows...
RMIT University Researching LMD 3D Printing for Making New and Replacement Defense Aircraft Parts
3D printing is finding significant adoption in the aerospace industry, considering its need for complex parts and lightweight components with consistent quality and repeatable characteristics. The technology also makes the supply chain more efficient, as it reduces...
Lockheed Martin’s Contributions to 3D Printing
The aerospace industry was one of the first major advocates of 3D printing, as the industry has been a driving force in the evolution of this technology. The industry covers a wide range of commercial, industrial and military applications that demand state-of-the art...
The Foam Printing Project Part Two: 3D Printing to Lightweight All the Things
MIT research specialist Matthew Pearlson is the founder of The Foam Printing Project, an innovative advance building on his idea to use additive manufacturing and lightweight foam for the creation of lighter-weight structures so the world could use less fuel. In part...
SAE International Releases New Standards for Aerospace 3D Printing
Additive manufacturing might not be brand new anymore, but it’s still new enough that for many industries, standards are still in development. Standards are an important part of any industry, but they’re particularly crucial for industries like aerospace...
Students 3D Print a Tool for Exploring Beneath Ice in Outer Space
NASA not only uses 3D printing frequently itself, it encourages others to do so, particularly students, with programs such as the CubeSat Launch Initiative, for example. In return for its support of the technological experiments of students, NASA often is rewarded...
International Consortium Delivers New Microgravity 3D Printer Prototype to European Space Agency
The majority of our planet is on a race to the outer regions of space, and it’s a well-known fact now that 3D printing can help us remain there for longer periods of time. Over two years ago, the European Space Agency (ESA), looking to further develop its...
Honeywell Engineers Take on Industrial 3D Printing to Create Strong, Lightweight Parts in Metal
I took an overnight flight recently from Colorado to the East Coast. In the wee hours, the lights were dimmed and most of the passengers slept; however, in all my growing excitement to see family and friends, I was wide awake and found myself looking around the quiet...
Boeing Protects Its 3D Printed Intellectual Property with Assembrix Software
Boeing is heavily involved in 3D printing, using multiple vendors to 3D print parts for aircraft such as the Dreamliner. But with such collaboration comes risk. While the vendors themselves may be perfectly trustworthy, electronic communication and transfer of parts...
NASA Successfully Tests 3D Printed Copper Combustion Chamber
NASA is constantly bringing additive manufacturing into use on projects, whether it’s 3D printing rocket engine parts or launching 3D printed CubeSats into space. For several years, NASA has been working on a project involving building a completely 3D printed...
NASA Awards Made In Space New Contract for Vulcan Hybrid 3D Printer, Successfully Launches First Deep Space-Bound CubeSats
Made In Space has built a long and respectable track record of, well, making things in space. The company was responsible for the first 3D printer ever to be launched into space, as well as the follow-up, which continues to 3D print on the International Space Station...
