www.3ders.org

Feb.5, 2014

3D printer company EOS has collaborated with Airbus Group Innovations (previously EADS Innovation Works), of Filton, Bristol, to complete an environmental lifecycle comparison of two key production technologies, rapid investment casting and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS).

The Airbus Group Innovations-EOS eco-assessment, applied to an Airbus A320 nacelle hinge bracket (a highly standardized part), strove to include detailed aspects of the overall lifecycle: from the supplier of the raw powder metal, to the equipment manufacturer (EOS), and to the end-user (Airbus Group Innovations).

Graphic of the conventional design of the assessed steel cast bracket (left) and titanium bracket with optimised topology made by using DMLS technology (Source: EADS)

The results were expected to show reduced CO2 emissions and higher energy and raw material efficiency as well as optimised recycling. The testing will serve as the basis for continued "Cradle-to-Cradle" study into other aerospace parts, processes and end-of-life strategies.

As a first step, the accessment was conducted on a generic bracket benchmarking the DMLS process with a conventional casting process used as the baseline. Comparing the lifecycle of a steel bracket (casting process) with the lifecycle of a design-optimized titanium bracket (DMLS):

• The use phase has by far the biggest impact in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions over the whole lifecycle of the bracket.
• CO2 emissions over the whole lifecycle of the nacelle hinges were reduced by nearly 40 percent via weight saving that resulted from an optimized geometry, which is enabled by the design freedom offered by the DMLS process and the use of titanium.
• Most significantly, using DMLS to build the hinge may reduce the weight per plane by 10 kilograms, a noteworthy saving when looking at industry "buy-to-fly" ratios.

The second phase of the analysis focused on the manufacturing process for the design-optimized bracket using titanium as an ideal, common material - and, this time, benchmarking the manufacturing process of investment casting against that of DMLS via the EOSINT M 280 system:

• The total energy consumption for creating the initial raw powder metal, then producing the bracket in DMLS, was slightly smaller than the equivalent cast process steps (with the higher energy use of DMLS limited to the melt and chill cycle of its manufacturing profile and offset at the same time by a significantly reduced build time). Casting in this comparison was burdened with the furnace operation of burning an SLA (stereolithography) epoxy model, which uses considerable energy and generates greenhouse gases.
• The DMLS process itself used only the material actually needed to make the part—thereby eliminating waste from secondary machining and reducing consumption of titanium by 25 percent over the cast application.

"DMLS has demonstrated a number of benefits, as it can support the optimization of design and enable subsequent manufacture in low-volume production," said Jon Meyer, Additive Layer Manufacturing Research Team Leader, in his final report. "In general, the joint study revealed that DMLS has the potential to build light, sustainable parts with due regard for the company's CO2 footprint."

Posted in 3D Printing Technology

 

 

Maybe you also like:

• Manipulate pliable 3D printed structures
• UK Researchers developing natural-looking, 3D-printed skin
• Harvard shows important progress toward 3D printing lithium-ion batteries
• Top 10 tech trends for 2014: the revolution will be 3D
• A*STAR Singapore launches $15m program to develop 3D printing
• UK Intellectual Property Office looking at patenting in 3D printing
• Apple filed five Liquidmetal patents, two are 3D printing related
• 3D printing for final part production up to 28.3%
• MTU Prof writes 3D printing guide to making your own low-cost lab equipment

 

Leave a comment:

Your Name: