AEROSPACE ADDITIVE
MANUFACTURING NEWS IN BRIEF
www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets | February 2021
Pictured top:
Satair additively
manufactured
a titanium
wingtip fence
for an A320ceo
aircraft to
replace the
original cast
fence
Picture above:
A Stratasys’
Antero 800NA
thermoplastic
aerospace part
Pictured middle:
A Stratasys
450mc
AEROSPACE INDUSTRY: ADDITIVE GAINS
Satair - an Airbus services company - has provided
one of its airline customers in the US with what it
reports is the “ rst certi ed metal printed ying spare
part” – a wingtip fence for the A320ceo aircraft.
The part was no longer procurable from the original
supplier, but by using metal additive manufacturing
(AM) to replace it, the rm has been able to reduce the
likelihood of the aircraft being grounded.
The A320ceo’s wingtip fences are installed in four
different versions – starboard, port, upper and lower.
According to Satair, the original spare parts
supplier had dif culties providing the cast part,
leading to a regular loss of the moulds and
a potentially high investment cost to
replace the moulds for individual
orders.
The company studied other
conventional options to replace
the part, such as redesigning it for
machining technology, but the cost and leadtime
implications were not competitive.
Using a new certi cation process, Satair was able
to re-certify the former cast part within ve weeks and
adapt it to titanium, which is a quali ed airworthy AM
material. The lead time for certi cation is expected to
reduce even further in the future once the technology
becomes more of a standard.
The wingtip fence parts were
additively manufactured with four parts
(full shipset for one aircraft) built
simultaneously in a 26-hour build job,
reducing the cost per piece and build
time per part.
After AM, the part required postprocessing
to become an airworthy part,
making it a one-to-one replacement for the original part
whilst meeting the same safety requirements as the
conventional part.
The shipset was delivered earlier this year – making
the airline the rst operator with an Airbus metal
additively manufactured AM spare part. Compared to
conventional solutions, total non-recurring costs were
reduced by 45 per cent, while lead time was also
reduced.
Bart Reijnen, CEO of Satair, says it has more than
300 part numbers certi ed covering every Airbus
aircraft type and demand for additive manufactured
parts is increasing. “We have already identi ed more
titanium parts for which AM could as well become a
more economical way of production, with higher
exibility and shorter lead times,” he adds.
Stratasys ( www.is.gd/BQBqTt ) reports that Boeing
has quali ed the Antero 800NA thermoplastic to its
repertoire of 3D printing capabilities, meaning the hightemperature
material can now be used on ight parts
for Boeing aircraft.
Antero 800NA is a PEKK-based polymer developed
speci cally for production-grade Stratasys FDM 3D
printers. Boeing has released speci cation BMS8-444
and added the 800NA material to the Quali ed
Products List (QPL) after an extensive
evaluation of the material’s
performance.
It is the rst material from
Stratasys quali ed by Boeing for
use in applications with elevated
chemical resistance or fatigue
requirements.
“Boeing has
recognised the tremendous
utility of Antero to meet applications
that couldn’t have been 3D-printed
before,” says Stratasys aerospace
vice president Scott Sevcik. “Additive
manufacturing has tremendous
bene ts for simplifying aerospace
supply chains both in original
equipment and MRO, but robust
materials for meeting challenging
ight requirements have been needed.”
The Antero family of materials
includes 800NA as well as Antero
840CN03, which is an electrostatic
dissipative (ESD) variant. Stratasys
provides these materials both for
customers who use the Stratasys F900
and Fortus 450mc 3D printers.
Silverstone Park-based Digital Manufacturing Centre
(DMC) has announced a pioneering new partnership
with high precision engineering expert Produmax ( www.
is.gd/raC7AJ ) – an aerospace sector specialist.
The two will combine resources, talent and
engineering expertise to drive the automated and
digital future of additive manufacturing (AM). DMC is
set to launch in March this year.
With AS9100 certi cation, Produmax brings a
wealth of experience from working with leading
aerospace companies.
As part of the partnership, it will operate a satellite
site at the DMC, including extensive machining and
inspection services supported by engineering expertise
from its UK base.
Capable of providing full inspection reports,
including Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), it
will support DMC’s extensive engineering talent and
suite of leading-edge polymer and metal AM solutions.
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Karsten / stock.adobe.com
/www.machinery.co.uk
/BQBqTt
/stock.adobe.com