Producing Quality Metal Parts with Additive Manufacturing
Learn more about the entire 3D printing process from powder characterization to determining the best tests to qualify parts for the aerospace industry.
The aerospace industry is increasingly adopting metal additive manufacturing for both flight safety-critical aircraft parts and non-critical flight parts. The approach offers a shorter development cycle, which means products can be developed quicker and design changes easily incorporated. Similar to other 3D printing methods, metal additive manufacturing, specifically Select Laser Melting (SLM) and Electron Beam Melting (EBM), builds up a part layer by layer by depositing thin layers of metal powder that are melted with a laser or other thermal source.
Additive manufacturing can be used for very fast prototyping of parts, short production runs and as a faster and more economical way to create part molds and fixturing compared to machining. One of its greatest advantages is in making highly intricate parts. In the past, complex parts would require several different machining operations. With metal additive manufacturing, it is possible to make a single part to replace multiple pieces that would otherwise be combined with welding or fastening systems. This not only makes manufacturing faster, less expensive, and more consistent but also creates a seamless piece that is stronger and has less opportunity for failure.