AEROSPACE FOCUS
XXXXX
Pictured middle:
Final, 3D printed
ECS duct adapter
designed to cool
aircraft whilst
on the ground.
3D printed in
Stratasys Nylon
12 on the Fortus
450mc
A fl ight-approved,
ducting for air
conditioners, 3D
printed in ULTEM
9085 resin on
Stratasys’s Fortus
450mc
GAME-CHANGER FOR MARSHALL AEROSPACE
Cambridge-headquartered Marshall Aerospace &
Defence revealed at Formnext Connect it is using
additive manufacturing (AM) technology in-house by
utilising two polymer 3D printers.
Marshall is one of the world’s largest independent
aerospace and defence companies and operates a
Stratasys ( www.is.gd/BQBqTt) Fortus 450 and a Fortus
370 for prototyping, advanced tooling and nal part
production – including producing ight-ready parts.
The company looked at AM as a possible solution,
to increase responsiveness, reduce production
time and cost, and remain innovative,
while helping it meet a need for
quick, complex prototyping.
“The ability to go from
a CAD concept for a
physical item so
rapidly helps us and
enables us to
provide an inclusive
process for the
customer,” explains
chief technology
of cer and
engineering director
Patrick Wood.
He says Marshall Aerospace
uses AM for advanced composites
and gave an example of how it has
used the technology for a prototype mould
tool for a fast jet helmet.
The initial tool process saw ply lay-up trials,
development of pre-preg templates, initial cutting trials
both in oven and autoclave, before customer
acceptance and sales.
Wood notes the advantages of using AM to
prototype a mould tool for a fast jet helmet, are it is 95
per cent cheaper to manufacture, the lead time is
signi cantly reduced to two weeks from 16 weeks and
it is easy to modify prior to committing to production
tooling.
Marshall is also using AM in other ways, including
for Land Systems, part of Marshall Aerospace, which
uses the 3D printers to costeffectively
provide proof of
concept to customers
within a day, which
previously took up to
six weeks.
The company has
also used AM to
create a prototype
ducting adapter, which
are essential for
providing fresh air to
cool the aircraft avionics while it is on the ground.
“First, the prototype part is 3D printed to evaluate
the concept, and the initial plan was to manufacture
the nal component in aluminum, and the AM part was
prototyped as an alternative,” says Wood.
The nal component was AM manufactured from
Nylon 12 material on the Stratasys Fortus 450
machine and helped to bring about advantages. The
part was manufactured 63 per cent lighter as a result
of using AM, leading to a 90 per cent cost saving and
was completed in a lead time of two weeks, compared
to eight weeks without using AM.
Other certi ed parts include a
cockpit safety knife holder, a
chaff and are selector switch
housing mounted to the
pilot control column,
and a custom cover
to protect the
coaxial ports of a
laptop with plug-in
diagnostics
hardware.
Wood says the
technology is also being
using for system
integration as new ducting
added to existing aircraft and
through a need for complex shapes
and routing.
Traditional methods would include blow
moulding and injection forming, but both of these
methods require expensive tooling.
Marshall’s solution was to use a combination of
laser scanning and 3D printing to produce prototype
parts for trial t, meaning it could produce complex
shapes, without expensive tooling and rapid prototypes
and then production components.
Other Marshall Aerospace tooling applications that
use AM include drill jigs, masking templates, bonded
xtures, composite mould tooling and sacri cial
tooling.
3D printing technology is also helping the company
to have a mix of employees on and off site, something
that is helping with operational ef ciency in socially
distanced times.
Any halt in production presents dif cult and often
costly challenges, but through in-house AM, the
company has been able to minimise tool replacement,
improve responsiveness to engineers’ manufacturing
needs and create more innovative tooling solutions.
“AM is a truly exciting area from our perspective at
Marshall Aerospace and we are really enthusiastic to
carry on our journey and discover and see what else is
achievable,” says Wood.
44 February 2021 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
/BQBqTt)
/www.machinery.co.uk