July 17, 2015 | By Alec
The Chinese military has been known for experimenting with 3D printing technology for a while now, so it was hardly surprising that some interesting 3D printed innovations were on display at the first Chinese National Defense Science and Technology Industry Exhibition. Opening on the morning of 16 July, this exhibition is the first time that all military branches were presented as a single unit. But of all the innovations presented, the most interesting were seen at the booth of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where large 3D printed metal frame components suitable for a variety of aircraft were showcased.
Scientists from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics have been developing 3D printed aircraft parts for some time. It was estimated that they have already successfully 3D printed nearly 50 large and key parts that have been declared suitable for large transport aircraft, large aircraft and carriers. Among their qualities are high strength steel structures and sufficient static, dynamic strength and adequate fatigue, shock and vibration qualities. All have obviously been developed with laser additive manufacturing technology.
The particular highlight of the booth was a part thatwas the largest critical titanium alloy load-bearing frame for an aircraft ever 3D printed. According to the booth’s staff, it is completely suitable for use, featuring high performance, low costs and quick manufacturing – especially when compared to traditionally manufactured components. In fact, they argued that the production cycle for the part only takes a fifth of the time necessary for traditional manufacturing, while it features higher strength and durability characteristics.
These impressive results follow a 3D printing announcement back in 2013, when Chief Architect Cong Sun revealed that 3D printing has been used to prototype, design and produce the J-15 aircraft, which was first successfully tested in October 2012. At the time, Sun revealed that the primary force-bearing structure of the J-15, including its landing gear, was formed by high-tensile titanium alloy powder sprayed from a 3-D printer.
Also displayed at the expo is the hyperboloid cockpit window frames for the C919 aircraft, also made using the laser 3D printing technology. Some information about these crucial components was already unveiled at a workshop given by aviation materials specialist Professor Wang Huaming (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences some months ago. He revealed that Chinese scientists now only needed just 55 days to 3D print four of these hyperboloid cockpit window frames for the C919.
That timeframe is especially impressive when compared to European manufacturers, who would need at least two years to do the same, with the mold alone costing $2 million USD. ‘The traditional aircraft manufacturing industry doesn't only need much more time, but also wastes too many expensive materials,’ Wang argued. ‘Normally, just 10 per cent of raw materials would be utilised, with the rest all cut and dropped during the processes of casting moulds, forging, cutting and polishing.’
That argument was further supported with an example from Lockheed Martin Aeonotics, who needed 2,796kg of titanium alloy to produce an F-22 fighter jet. According to Wang, only 144kg of the material was actually present on the plane itself. Wang has been studying 3D printable materials since 200 with a team of researchers, and he further revealed that they reached the stage of mixing many different materials to imitate sophisticated, high-end components.
He firmly believes, he says, that 3D printing technology could help the Chinese government to overcome a long-standing technological bottleneck in the aviation industry. 'For me and many Chinese aircraft engineers, we all dream of 'printing out' all kinds of plane components we need one day,’ he said. One of the first results of that process are these huge titanium alloy structures as big as 5 square meters on display at the convention. It suggests that we can look forward to a lot more high-tech military applications in the near future.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Ben Bravo wrote at 10/19/2015 7:11:05 PM:
Was that part made using Sciaky's EBAM technology? I can't think of another company, they have a 6 meters long chamber depositing wire-based titanium melted with an electron beam. I've seen it here : www.x3d-ebam.com
Mr T wrote at 7/19/2015 1:51:32 PM:
Hey Rich! Odds are these puppies were indeed 3D printed using Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and then machined down, as the former process has excellent internal bonding properties but leaves an extremely rough surface. True, it's not 'pure' 3D printing, but imagine just how many hours and tools/bits you would go through carving something like this out of a solid block, ouch! So, the WAAM process gets you 90% of the way there, the machining cleans it up. And who said hybrids weren't cool :) P.S. You're awesome!
Jon S wrote at 7/19/2015 9:09:48 AM:
This COULD be 3D printed if they used Direct Metal Deposition (DMD). That's the technology that's basically CNC welding. DND needs post-machining to finish. One could debate if it's really 3D printing or should be called something else.
Terry wrote at 7/19/2015 2:48:20 AM:
Not 3D printed but conventional CNC machined. It's quite obvious
Engineer wrote at 7/18/2015 3:54:11 PM:
RichRap3D, my guess is that the printing process for sizes that big is more geared towards speed rather than ultra high precision and clean surface finishes. I could imagine that they even have to reglow the part after printing and cool it down again in a controlled fashion. There is no way they can get the required precision for aircraft parts with such processes in mind. So, the logical step is to print just a rough block of material, heat-treat it, and then use high precision CNC once the block is cooled to get the tolerances and surface properties right. It's even written in the article, the goal is to be much faster and economical. If you don't have to use a CNC to remove 90% of the material from a massive solid block to get the same part, thats a good thing, as long as powdering and sintering the metal is more efficient and cheaper.
Mr T wrote at 7/18/2015 3:22:55 AM:
Hey Rich! Odds are these puppies were indeed 3D printed using Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and then machined down, as the former process has excellent internal bonding properties but leaves an extremely rough surface. True, it's not 'pure' 3D printing, but imagine just how many hours and tools/bits you would go through carving something like this out of a solid block, ouch! So, the WAAM process gets you 90% of the way there, the machining cleans it up. And who said hybrids weren't cool :) P.S. You're awesome!
jd90 wrote at 7/17/2015 11:08:56 PM:
The fighter jet frame part looks exactly like the parts you covered two years ago: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130529-china-shows-off-world-largest-3d-printed-titanium-fighter-component.html
RichRap3D wrote at 7/17/2015 2:27:33 PM:
That all looks like it's been CNC machined - not 3D printed. Apart from maybe the very last image of a much smaller section. Are you sure this was 3D printed, I'm very doubtful - anyone else want to comment.
Tikey wrote at 7/17/2015 1:30:05 PM:
I'm not fooled. Those are giant goggles. They're building a mech. About time someone got to it.
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