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Hello everyone, here we go with another Week in Review.
This week we had a clear view at what AM can provide in terms of performance. Through new technologies and collaborations, we are seeing a future in which certain tasks simply couldn’t be accomplished in any other way. GE is testing a prototype engine with 35% AM parts, from 855 to just 12 with improved performance, Lockheed Martin explains how the company incorporated 3D printing to become world’s largest defense contractor and a collaboration between SSL and TUI will see a demonstration of kilometric structures in space through AM satellites. Additive solutions are driving performance parts in every industry:
GE unveils 35% 3D printed ATP engine: ‘more additive parts than any engine in aviation history’
General Electric (GE) has tested a demonstrator engine with 35% additive manufactured parts. The engine was made to validate 3D printed parts for the clean-sheet design Advanced Turboprop (ATP) engine … The all-new lightweight components for the ATP will contribute to a 5% weight reduction, as well as a 1% improvement in specific fuel consumption (SFC). 855 subtractive manufactured parts will be reduced to 12 additive parts, with those 12 making up 35% of the total part count.
Read more here.
Lockheed Martin Looks to Catch Up in 3D Printing
Robert Ghobrial, additive manufacturing lead for the company’s training and simulation location in Orlando, FL, spoke at SME’s “Additive Manufacturing Applications: Innovations for Growth” seminar in October, at advanced energy technology accelerator NextEnergy, in Detroit. He traced his work with 3D printing back to 2012, when his team received some MakerBot printers that largely went unused. Along the way, Ghobrial coined the phrase, “The 5Ps of Additive Manufacturing™,” a manufacturing model that describes how AM can help aerospace, defense and other businesses.
Read more about it at Advanced Manufacturing.
“Trusselator” puts additive manufacturing into orbit
Tethers Unlimited Inc’s (TUI) Firmamentum division have announced a collaboration with Space Systems Loral (SSL) that will allow them to demonstrate their on-orbit manufacturing technology, specifically for building kilometer scale space systems. According to TUI, the primary benefit of this on-orbit fabrication is the improved packing efficiency and system mass, which basically means that [companies] can save trips to space by launching highly concentrated fabrication material instead of built on earth structures that have to be deployed in space.
Read more about the collaboration here.
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