3 D printing principle and potential application in aircraft industry

1. October,2017

2.  Introduction
 History of 3D printing technology
 Common types of 3D printers and their
working principles.
 Application of 3D printing in Chinese aircraft
industry
 Application of 3D printing in aircraft industry-
Outside of China
 3D printing advantages
 Potential Future Applications of 3D Printing
Within the Aerospace Industry

3.  3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three
dimensional solid objects from a digital file.
 The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive
processes. In an additive process an object is created by laying
down successive layers of material until the object is created. Each
of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-
section of the eventual object.
 Unlike 3D printing ,traditional manufacturing uses subtractive
processes where materials are cut out to produce needed
geometry.

4. 1981:The first 3D printing attempts are granted to Dr Kodama
of Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute. He was the first to
describe a layer by layer approach for manufacturing, creating an
ancestor for SLA(Stereolithography)
 1986:Charles Hull filed his own patent for
a stereolithography fabrication system. Hull defined the process as a
"system for generating three dimensional objects by creating a
cross-sectional pattern of the object to be formed". He founded
the 3D Systems Corporation and a year later.
1988: At the University of Texas, Carl Deckard brought a patent for
the SLS technology, another 3D printing technique in which powder
grains are fused together locally by a laser.
In the same year, Scott Crump, a co-founder of Stratasys Inc. filed a
patent for Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) a special
application of plastic extrusion.
The 1980s: Birth of the 3 main 3D Printing Techniques

5. The 1990s: Emergence of the Main 3D Printers
Manufacturers & CAD tools
1991 : Electro Optical Systems (EOS) of Germany sold its first
Stereos stereolithography system STEREOS 400 to German car
maker BWM.
STEREOS 400

6. From 1993 to 1999: The main actors of the 3D printing sector
emerged with various techniques
Based on MIT’s inkjet printing technology, ZCorp and binder jetting
created the Z402, which produced models using starch- and
plaster‐based powder materials and a water‐based liquid binder.
ZPrinter® 402
Some Complex structures manufactured usin

7. 1993 to 1999:
•CAD tools for 3D printing became more and more available and
developed, with for example the creation of Sanders Prototype (now
known as Solidscape), one of the first actors to develop specific tools
for additive manufacturing.
•The 1990s were also the decade of the first application of 3D printing
by medical researchers, who started to combine medicine and 3D
printing, opening the path to many uses.

8.  The 2000s: 3D Printing Gains Media Visibility
 2000 : first 3D printed working kidney.
 2005: ZCorp launched the Spectrum Z510, the very first high-definition color 3D
printer.
 2008: The first 3D printed prosthetic leg.
First 3D printed working kidney
Spectrum Z510

9.  The 2010s: Years of Visibility, Innovation and
Hopes for 3D Printing
 2010 : The world’s first 3D printed car was launched .
 2014: NASA brought a 3D printer in space to make the first 3D printed object off of
the earth
URBEE-2 : The world’s first 3D printed
The International Space Station’s 3-D printer

10. 1. Selective Laser Sintering
2. Thermal Inkjet Printing
3. Fused Deposition Modeling

11.  An SLS printer uses powdered material as the substrate for printing
new objects. A laser draws the shape of the object in the powder,
fusing it together. Then a new layer of powder is laid down and the
process repeats, building each layer, one by one, to form the object.
 Laser sintering can be used to create metal, plastic, and ceramic
objects. The degree of detail is limited only by the precision of the
laser and the fineness of the powder, so it is possible to create
especially detailed and delicate structures with this type of printer.
Selective Laser Sintering principle

12.  Inkjet printing is a “noncontact” technique that uses
thermal, electromagnetic, or piezoelectric technology to
deposit tiny droplets of “ink” (actual ink or other
materials) onto a substrate according to digital
instructions.
 In inkjet printing, droplet deposition is usually done by
using heat or mechanical compression to eject the ink
drops.
Thermal Inkjet Printing principle

13.  An FDM printer uses a printhead similar to an inkjet printer.
However, instead of ink, beads of heated plastic are released from
the printhead as it moves, building the object in thin layers. This
process is repeated over and over, allowing precise control of the
amount and location of each deposit to shape each layer. Since the
material is heated as it is extruded, it fuses or bonds to the layers
below. As each layer of plastic cools, it hardens, gradually creating
the solid object as the layers build.

14.  In January 2013, a Beijing team of AM researchers led by Wang Huaming received
first prize in the State Technological Invention Award (国家技术发明奖) for the use of
laser metal deposition to produce what is claimed to be the world’s largest 3D
printed titanium component.
 This component is a critical component for the J-20 or J-31 Chinese stealth fighter
largest 3D printed titanium component Shenyang J-31

15.  In North-western Polytechnic University (NPU) in Xi’an,3 D
printing technology was used to produce a three-meter long central
wing spar that is used in COMAC’s C919 passenger jet.

three-meter long central wing spar
Comac C919

16.  Chief Architect Cong Sun unveiled that 3D printing has been widely
used in designing and producing of the newest J-15 prototype
which had its first successful test in October 2012. 3D printing has
been used to manufacture critical titanium alloy load-bearing
structure on the aircraft, including the entire nose landing gear
J-15

17. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
Lockheed Martin, the global aerospace, defense, security and advanced
technologies company, invested $1 million in a new additive manufacturing
lab at Metropolitan State University of Denver. More than 900 F-35 parts
will be made using AM.

18.  In 2015,Airbus announced that they had officially begun
using 3D printed parts in their A350 XWB and A320neo
test aircrafts.
 The use of 3D printed parts reduced fuel consumption
by by 25 percent compared to their competitors
A350 XWB A320neo

19.  3D printing technology has been on the rise in South Africa recently.
Funded by the Department of Science and Technology, the project’s goal is
to build the world’s largest and fastest additive manufacturing system that
can 3D print titanium aircraft parts from powder.
 In 2016 ,the project produced its first three demonstrator parts
1. A pilot’s throttle lever;
2. A condition lever grip, which is part of the throttle assembly;
3. A fuel tank pylon bracket which reduce fuel consumption.
pilot’s throttle lever fuel tank pylon bracket

20.  The new technology breaks manufacturers out of the injection molding
practice that has traditionally been used to create components of this type.
Injection molding is costly, time consuming and can create massive amounts of
material waste. "For example, the production of a component might involve
the use of three metric tons of steel, but after machining, the part may weigh
just 144 kilograms.” said Professor Wang( Beijing University of Aeronautics
and Astronautics).
 The laser additive manufacturing technology could save 90% of raw
material, and the cost is only 5% of the traditional method - for example, the
cost of a part made with traditional technology is 25 million RMB (4 million
USD), but using laser additive manufacturing technology the cost is only 1.3
million (210K USD). Because no tooling is required, the processing charge is
also just 10% of the original.
 Airbus announced that the use of 3D printed parts in some of its test aircraft
reduced fuel consumption by 25 percent compared to their competitors. Less
fuel consumption also implies less carbon dioxide emission. According to
American Airlines, for every pound of weight removed from the aircraft, the
company saves 11,000 gallons of fuel annually.

21. 1.fuel nozzles :
General Electric (GE) announced an investment of $50 million to 3D print fuel
nozzles for the next-generation LEAP jet engine
2. Aircraft Wings: While smaller parts in aircraft are already being developed using 3D
printing techniques, Boeing also envisions printing an entire airplane wing in the
future
3. Complex Engine Parts: Apart from 3D printed nozzles, GE is also developing 3D
printed parts for the GE9X engine, which is the world’s largest jet engine designed
for the next generation Boeing 777X long haul passenger jet.
.
GE 90 Engine 3d Printed Sensor Housing
Leap Engine 3D printed fuel nozzle

22. THANK YOU!
October,2017