3D printing techniques are reaching into space to help NASA astronauts. They're also creating production metal and plastic parts for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter jets, commercial planes, and cars. Research is underway to develop additive manufacturing (AM) techniques for making end-use parts for cars and planes from aluminum powders and other materials, including 3D printing carbon composites. Materials and processes are now pushing the edges of what's possible in automotive and aerospace applications.
When humans get to Mars, they will drive around the surface of the Red Planet in a rover much bigger than Curiosity that incorporates AM-made parts. NASA is testing a manned Mars rover in Arizona under its Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) program. It's about the size of a Humvee, has a pressurized cabin for two astronauts, and 12 wheels on six axles for navigating irregular terrain.
Humans exploring Mars will probably get around in a Humvee-sized rover with a pressurized cabin like this one NASA is testing in the Arizona desert. It contains about 70 parts made with a Stratasys production-grade Fortus printer, including pod doors, camera mounts, vents, and housings.
The rover contains about 70 parts made with Stratasys's Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process and a production-grade Fortus printer. Parts include large pod doors, a large component that works as a front bumper, camera mounts, flame-retardant vents and housings, and lots of custom fixtures. Materials include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PCABS), and polycarbonates.
NASA has tested some 3D printers in zero-gravity to determine the feasibility of using them on the International Space Station. During several zero-gravity flights made by NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, Made in Space tested a 3D Systems Bits from Bytes 3000 printer, another off-the-shelf printer, and a third printer customized to manufacture structures in space. Several objects were printed in flight, including a scaled-down wrench. Made in Space worked with AutoDesk to optimize space-based design principles. Since tolerances are even tighter on the space station, a different 3D Systems model is now under test, Cathy Lewis, vice president of global marketing, told us.
Closer to Earth, Microturbo, a manufacturer of gas turbine jet engines, is working with the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative Research Centre in Australia to develop selective laser melting (SLM) methods, another term for selective laser sintering (SLS), for producing aerospace microengine components using metal alloys. The project aims to develop demonstration microengine components free of cracks and porosity. The partners expect to reduce production stages and material waste, as well as cut design cycles for developing parts. They also plan to develop non-destructive testing methods.
EADS Innovation Works has manufactured several metal production parts for Airbus planes using SLS, including wing brackets, hinges for engine covers, air intake baffles, and aerodynamically profiled cooling ducts. The constraints the company has encountered include lack of fine-tuned temperature controls and restrictions on maximum part sizes.
EADS also worked with EOS to explore a redesign that could take advantage of EOS's direct metal laser-sintering process for a titanium engine cover door hinge on the A380 commercial aircraft. The goal was to make the hinge lighter while retaining its strength. The redesigned hinge, which is not currently used in service, weighed 65 percent less than one made with a conventional casting design. On the airliner, this would result in an overall weight savings of 10kg.
Nice indepth account of how 3D printing is really changing the game when it comes to creating production parts from a wide variety of materials and in a much shorter time span. Beyond the implications in the aerospace applications you mentioned, Ann, the experimentation going on to use less expensive and more portable 3D printers in army applications, in the field, as a means of helping troops with extra parts they need or more significantly medical care is really exciting.
Thanks, Beth. The DoD's desire to make 3D printing accessible and useful for soldiers is apparently one of the main forces behind the formation of NAMII, the additive manufacturing initiative/consortium we covered: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=251513
Seems like the dual forces of interest from the DoD and the commercial business sector could do a lot to advance the cause of 3D printing and additive manufacturing well beyond where it is today. Couple that with all the activity on the consumer front and you've got the real makings of a market.
I agree--the fact that 3D printing, in all its variety, is now on the radar of so many people and organizations bodes well, as does the spread of machines, and more and more materials, across the different market segments.
I really like the new materials. that's been my fascination with 3D printing thus far. The software advancements are good, but the materials determine what you can make. Wonder what's next?
One more thought. One thing that comes to mind to me, being an ex-machinist is the precision i.e. tolerances they can hold. I am betting they get better at that. You can print something all day long with whatever material, but if you can't hold certain tolerances then it isn't good for precision work.
I agree about tight tolerances. The fact that this technology is being used in commercial aircraft and medical applications speaks volumes about its success in achieving consistent, repeatable, very tight tolerances.
That person would still need machining knowledge. At least knowledge of the measuring tools. I can see it as a trade school thing. Now instead of going for machining you go for 3D printing. I might be wrong, but it seems possible.
Ann, I just wanted to say. I know I go on and on about this 3D printing, but it just fascinates me to no end. We talked just a few months ago about materials and they are already here. Like you said, it's progressing very fast. I'm just really interested in this.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
The 100-percent solar-powered Solar Impulse plane flies on a piloted, cross-country flight this summer over the US as a prelude to the longer, round-the-world flight by its successor aircraft planned for 2015.
GE Aviation expects to chop off about 25 percent of the total 3D printing time of metallic production components for its LEAP Turbofan engine, using in-process inspection. That's pretty amazing, considering how slow additive manufacturing (AM) build times usually are.
A $1,500, hand-operated, bench-model, plastic injection machine crowdsource-funded via Kickstarter can be used to mold small, quality, plastic parts inexpensively, on demand.
The federal government is launching competitions to kickstart three more manufacturing innovation institutes, including one focused on Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation.
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