Blog On Additive Manufacturing In Aerospace Sector

     ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN AEROSPACE SECTOR

Additive Manufacturing or 3D printing is one of the developing technologies of the manufacturing field. 3D printing is establishing its power and potential in various areas by implementing new processing techniques of 3D printing over the world. 3D Printing is proving its efficiency in fabricating 3D models, especially in aerospace, automobile, medical etc. Additive manufacturing (AM) is the manufacturing method that has made it possible, more than any other method, to create products of high functional efficiency and great lightness, both essential aspects for the aerospace sector. In addition, the aerospace industry is focused on the low volume production of systems with complex mechanical and electronic components, and additive manufacturing responds very well to these demands.

                       

Introduction:

 Additive manufacturing is taking the aerospace industry by storm! Initial safety concerns regarding 3D printing manufacturing have been dismissed with parts now comparable and in many cases more study than those created using traditional manufacturing methods. The aerospace industry has only just scratched the surface of the potential for additive manufacturing. The aerospace industry directs much of its efforts to developing products that are subjected to extremely high demands. In other words, it needs to develop more efficient products with minimized weight and high structural and functional demands. These are the aspects on which FA is based to provide competitive advantages over other conventional methods.

Additive manufacturing aerospace applications:

• Selective material addition

• Blades and vanes

• Case features

• Heat exchangers

• Fuel Nozzles

• Bearing housings

• Brackets

• Repair

  
  
  

  Benefits of additive manufacturing aerospace components

  
  

• Reducing the number of processing steps

• Reducing weight

• Increase fuel efficiency

• Expand function and application

• Reducing lead time

• Cost Effective Production

• Build parts with Complex Geometries

• More efficient Prototyping

• Increase Parts’ Internal Strength

• Decrease Storage needs 

SPACE APPLICATIONS:

The category Aerospace & space includes piezo-based applications for aeroplanes, space and helicopters. Micro-thrusters for satellites. Piezos are used in micro-thrusters for satellites, where the micro-thrusters are used to position and stabilize the satellite. Naturally, there is a very strong focus on reliability and functionality...

Piezos are used in structural health monitoring (SHM), where the integrity of mechanical structures is checked while in use. This is highly relevant where safety is an important issue e.g. transport structures, infrastructure and building structures. The continuous monitoring also holds an obvious financial advantage to traditional inspection of e.g. an airplane that requires a planned interruption of service and even a dismantling of selected parts.

Additive manufacturing now and in the future:

Additive manufacturing is a disruptive technology, destined to gain in significance in the near future. It can enable a company to realize competitive advantages by disruptive business models, more agile operation, through innovative product design, flexible manufacturing, and sustained reduction of costs. Ex- SpiderFab.

Trends in Aerospace

• Smaller parts (up to 400mm cubed) are rapidly being adapted for AM – many are currently in development, but coming into small batches of production.

• AM will increase the intricacy of parts. Actuators and hydraulics.

• AM is ideal for low-volume parts and it is already using additive manufacturing for flying parts and tooling.

DESIGN PROCESS:

The additive manufacturing process improves greatly the durability of the parts and reduces the assembly work . In addition, several metal parts within the turbo-engine are delivered through additive manufacturing, allowing complexity in design and smooth assembly. Design process includes metal selection, evaluation, cost analysis and manufacturing.

Composite materials allow maximizing design effectiveness using directional mechanical properties (anisotropic) – minimize wasted material providing needed strength to structure. Additive manufacturing (also referred to as 3D Printing) crossed that milestone some time ago for several industries. The aero field is now making additive manufacturing the way of tomorrow and as of 2017 it accounts for 17% of additive manufacturing revenue. A part that is correctly designed and treated through the virtual slicer of an AM machine will deliver the same properties as the regular processes while giving a new control on others, such as grain flow properties and microstructural refinement. We will take a look at the main uses the industry has made public.

What Improvement is needed ?

• Agreement and availability of material physical property data.

• Continue to experimentally validate assumptions and models.

   Identifying new methods of model validation.

• User friendly models, which require limited experience and expertise.

• Model run time is critical when basic experiments can be completed in minutes or hours. 

• Developing models to prescribe process parameters and tool paths for a  material and component geometry.

CONCLUSION:

Pressures in aerospace to cut cost of design by tailoring material properties and geometry to achieve goal with minimal cost. Exciting and unique applications in space missions.

         BY THE GREAT MINDS OF:

1.  Sejal Nikhade
2.  Uday Sonwane
3.  Tanmay Khiratkar
4.  Yugal Urkude
5.  Utkarsha Mandlik 

               6. Tushar Gaikwad

 

 

Under the Guidence of , 

Prof. Nishant Kulkarni 

          Department of Chemical Engineering 

Vishwakarma Institute Of Technology Pune 

         Thank You For Reading Our Blog!