{"id":9979,"date":"2015-06-03T10:47:04","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T17:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=9979"},"modified":"2015-06-03T10:47:04","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T17:47:04","slug":"eas-ix-additive-manufacturing-parts-flying-airbuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/eas-ix-additive-manufacturing-parts-flying-airbuses\/","title":{"rendered":"EAS IX: Additive Manufacturing Parts Flying on Airbuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Sevcik, Aerospace and Defense Business Development Manager for Stratasys, gave EAS IX participants a look into the most advanced aircraft manufacturing techniques currently available, and what might be possible in the near future.<\/p>\n

Traditional manufacturing techniques have relied on subtractive techniques, starting with an aluminum billet, for instance, and sawing, filing and sanding away anything that doesn\u2019t belong on the finished part.\u00a0 Anyone who\u2019s worked in a shop knows the barrels and buckets of metal shavings that fill up quickly.\u00a0 What if there were no materials to be recycled at the end of a production run?<\/p>\n

Additive manufacturing (AM)<\/a> is a way to produce parts that grow during the process, and that don\u2019t leave much, or any, debris afterward.\u00a0 Scott explained that a namesake, S. Scott Crump, invented fused deposition modeling (FDM), the 3D printing process on which most desktop 3D printers rely.\u00a0 He also founded Stratsys, Ltd. in 1989 with his wife Lisa.<\/p>\n

\"Stratasys<\/a>

Stratasys helps make Airbus A350-xwb tons lighter with 3D printed parts<\/p><\/div>\n

He explained the Stratasys acquired GrabCAD in late 2014, enabling \u00a0interactivity and greater collaboration between the 3D drawings from which the 3D printers obtain their input.\u00a0 Besides FDM, Stratasys produces equipment for material jetting and laser sintering, enabling use of materials beyond plastics.<\/p>\n

3D printing of parts and tooling to make parts \u2013 such as precision molds for wet layups \u2013 saves operational costs, allows greater design freedom, increases the speed to make design changes, and enhances supply chain flexibility with reduction of the need to purchase parts from external suppliers.<\/p>\n

Additive manufacturing makes weight removal possible, sometimes with parts that can\u2019t be produced through traditional means.\u00a0 Having an on-site printer reduces procurement time for parts, and essentially eliminates the make or buy decision that can add months to obtaining a needed part.\u00a0 This is a huge benefit to those in field service centers.<\/p>\n

An SAE Aerospace Engineering Magazine article quotes defense consultants\u00a0IHS <\/a>from their report “Overcoming MRO Supply Chain Dysfunction.” \u00a0\u201cLook closely at the product life-cycle within the typical MRO (manufacturing, replacement, \u00a0organization and you\u2019ll notice that 50% of open work orders are waiting for parts; 30% of in-house stock will never be used; 8% of SKUs [stock keeping units] are duplications; and, on average, employees spend 25% of the workday looking for parts.”\u00a0 This highlights the problems with traditional inventory techniques.\u00a0 Forecasting the need for parts that can be damaged in use, especially for military aircraft, is nearly impossible.<\/p>\n

Being able to download the current CAD file for a needed part and producing it on site is an efficient and speedier alternative to waiting for the part (if it\u2019s in stock) to come from a central warehouse in a distant factory.\u00a0 To counter this, Airbus initiated development and certification of 3D printing with Stratasys in 2013 as a schedule risk reduction activity.<\/p>\n

Although he could not reveal the actual clients during his talk, subsequent press releases show that Airbus is using Stratasys technology on Part 23 commercial aircraft and United Launch Alliance (ULA) incorporates 3D printed parts in its rockets.<\/p>\n