Premium AEROTEC is on its way to achieving a milestone in the serial production of aerospace metal 3D printed components.
Acknowledged for the design and construction of aircraft structures in metal and carbon fibre composite material, the company has teamed up with AM player GE Additive to make serial production of additively manufactured titanium components a reality.
The aerospace player first started by qualifying GE Additive Concept Laser M2 multi-laser system. Once the process qualification for titanium components was validated, the companies focused on a way to improving its productivity.
Concept Laser M2 is one of those hardware that deliver part-to-part and machine-to-machine consistency as well as quality control. With a build volume of 250x250x350mm3, the dual laser system features a 3D optic with variable spot diameter.
The only thing is that the team at Premium AEROTEC had been limited to the parallel assembly of several components in the build chamber of the system – with one laser being assigned to each part.
As a result, they could not increase productivity using several lasers at the same time, especially for large components. Following the validation of Airbus, this limitation has been removed and multiple lasers can now be utilized to build one component.
“The process-critical area is where the exposure zones of the lasers overlap, also known as the stitching zone. Highest precision in the calibration of the optical systems and sophisticated compensation of, for example, the influence of the process heat, is necessary to achieve the desired material properties. With this advanced technology, we are now able to achieve a homogeneous, quasi-isotropic structure with excellent material properties in the overlap area, which does not show any discernible differences from the previous quality standard. At the same time, with our partner GE Additive, we have succeeded in increasing productivity in component production by more than 30 per cent”, says Premium AEROTEC project manager Thomas Bielefeld.
The GE Additive Concept Laser M2 proves out its capabilities to meet the exacting requirements of highly-regulated aerospace industry. It will now be used by Premium AEROTEC for the production of components for the Airbus A320 family.
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