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EOS and Etihad Airways Engineering Partner to Expand 3D Printed Aviation Applications

The United Arab Emirates’ Etihad Airways has long been serious about incorporating 3D printing into its airplanes, particularly cabin components. Now Etihad Airways Engineering, the largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provided in the Middle East, has partnered with 3D printer manufacturer EOS to expand local capabilities for 3D printing in the aviation field.

The initial phase of the collaboration will use EOS technology and involve the qualification of machines, processes and materials in accordance with aviation regulatory requirements.

“Etihad constantly invests in new technology and has identified additive manufacturing as a key technology for aviation interior parts, as well as applications beyond aerospace in the future,” said Bernhard Randerath, Vice President Design, Engineering and Innovation at Etihad Airways Engineering. “The technology is a key enabler when it comes to design and innovation in our industry. Etihad is proud to work towards a vision of a 3D-printed cabin interior.”

Once the initial steps have been completed, Etihad Airways Engineering will certify the additive manufacturing process and further develop additive manufacturing capabilities based on the technology. Along with EOS, the company will also work to develop, test and qualify new polymer materials. Over the long term, Etihad plans to roll out 3D printing among its customers and within its broader ecosystem.

“Etihad is providing industry-leading aircraft maintenance and engineering solutions,” said Markus Glasser, Senior Vice President Export Region at EOS. “As such we share the same mindset as both of our companies are committed to high quality solutions and constant technology innovation. We are honored to support our partner on this innovation journey, as such bringing the production of aircraft interior parts to the next level.”

The partnership will enable Etihad Airways Engineering to produce 3D printed aircraft parts at its facility in Abu Dhabi. After a structured selection process, cabin interior parts will be 3D printed, which offers a number of benefits. 3D printing allows for lightweight design, and when it comes to airplanes, the more lightweight components can be included, the better. Any reduction in weight allows for better fuel efficiency, saving money as well as having a positive impact on the environment. 3D printing also enables shorter lead times as well as the opportunity for customization.

As 3D printing becomes more and more common in the aerospace industry, many people think more of high-strength metal components being used in engines, for example, and less about the inside of the cabin itself. But the interior cabin of the airplane is just as full of opportunities for using 3D printing, if not more so, and Etihad has seized on those opportunities in particular. When it comes to making an aircraft more lightweight, or saving money and time, no part is too small to revamp using 3D printing.

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Hackaday themed case for the Adafruit HalloWing #CircuitPython #HalloWing #Feather #Supercon @Adafruit @Hackaday

case for the neat @adafruit HalloWing #CircuitPython board we got at @hackaday #SuperCon

Tod Kurt (Twitter @todbot) received an Adafruit HalloWing development board in his Hackaday Superconference swag:

One of the goodies from the Hackaday Superconference (https://hackaday.io/superconference/) was an Adafruit HalloWing. And I thought: surely a Jolly Wrencher case must be made for this skull-shaped circuit board!

So I remixed an existing clip-on case that fits the battery (Thanks DoctorWhich!), added the Jolly Wrenches and printed it out. It came out pretty great. Though now I wish I had some black PLA.

You can check out his tweet and his Youtube video below. Great work!

If you’d like to check out the HalloWing, you can go here. Making a HalloWing project? Let us know in the comments below.

Researchers Create Algorithm for Shifting the Center of Gravity in 3D Printed Objects

Cross section of the model

In an article entitled “Tuning the Center of Gravity of 3D Printed Artifacts,” a pair of researchers discusses how they came up with an Algorithms-Aided Design (AAD) approach to shifting the center of gravity of 3D printed objects to a desired location.

“When the conventional design and fabrication pipeline of 3D printers and additive manufacturing machinery is employed, information about the interior of the artifacts is lost during the conversion of the design files to the STL file format,” the researchers point out. “This de facto file standard only stores the boundary information of the objects. Even though the designed artifact has heterogeneous interior in the Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, after the conversion it becomes a homogeneous solid.”

The researchers’ method does not require an STL file, as they used a query-based approach in which the built-in algorithm communicates with CAD software to acquire the necessary information about the design. First, the designed object in CAD software is decomposed into voxels of predefined sizes with AAD add-on software. Then the desired center of gravity and the amount of extra material available are entered by the user. This additional material is distributed to the voxels by the algorithm so that the center of gravity of the final object is at the predefined location.

“At the end of the design process, filling percentages of some voxels is altered which made the structure internally heterogeneous,” the researchers continue. “Then the final structure is directly sliced and the trajectories are converted to G-codes. Using the generated file, artifacts are printed on a desktop FFF printer. With the developed algorithm, we can modify the coordinates of the center of gravity of any shape by adjusting their interior structures and fabricate them on FFF printers.”

Why do this? Shifting the center of gravity can create a more stable object, according to the researchers, without altering any of the visible physical characteristics of the object. They point out that several other methods have been used to do this, including using Voronoi cells to create a heterogeneous interior. The researchers took this concept and added more mass to increase the effect of the Voronoi cells.

The main objective of the algorithm the researchers developed is to create a secondary shape inside the input geometry so that the overall center of gravity of the 3D printed object is in the desired position. The algorithm is divided into several steps. First, voxelization of the initial geometry needs to be done to create a base structure to hold the additional mass to be placed inside the initial geometry. The mass and the center of gravity of the voxelized geometry are then calculated.

“After the amount of additional mass is determined, center coordinates of the additional mass are found,” the researchers state. “After the formation of the uniform box around the center of additional mass, it is aimed to fit the created box inside the initial geometry so that the integrity and the accuracy of the desired artifact are maintained. Lastly, direct slicing algorithm is run to obtain the G-codes to fabricate the final geometry with the modified interior structure.”

To test the process, the researchers 3D printed a low-poly bunny that could sit on various surfaces once the center of gravity was adjusted. The target center of gravity was set so that it could stand on its tail. This was successful, though there were some defects on the surface of the print due to the lack of support structures for overhanging areas. The researchers admit that their technique needs some modification, but that in the future it will likely “have a major impact on industries that seek for an out of the box solution with the help of using original designs.”

Authors of the study include Mert Keles and Ulas Yaman.

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Results of Daimler and BMW AutoAdd Project Show that 3D Printing for Mass Production in Automotive Industry is Possible

[Image: Fraunhofer ILT]

Within the framework of the “Photonic Process Chains” funding initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), several partners – two research institutes and five companies, to be exact – are focusing on 3D printing in the automotive industry. The “Integration of Additive Manufacturing Processes in Automobile Series Production – AutoAdd” research project is coordinated by Daimler AG, and its findings show that by holistically integrating the metallic laser powder bed fusion process (LPBF), also known as SLM and DMLS, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) into automotive series production, unit costs can go way down.

The BMBF has been working on several projects in order to promote the intelligent linking of photon-based manufacturing processes, like metal 3D printing, as a means to produce complex or individualized products. Its aim is to create flexible, conceptual hybrid manufacturing designs, which can then be used for production purposes. But, out of all 14 joint projects in the funding initiative, which began in 2015 and ended in May, AutoAdd should make it easier to use 3D printing in the automotive industry within just three years.

In addition to Fraunhofer ILT and Daimler, the AutoAdd project partners include:

BMW
GKN Sinter Metals Engineering GmbH
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Netfabb GmbH
TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH

[Image: TRUMPF]

These partners are working to lower unit costs by integrating the LPBF process chain into the automotive mass production environment, in order to develop a new hybrid process chain. Daimler and the BMW Group worked together to define the necessary requirements for the new additive process chain, and then Fraunhofer ILT and TRUMPF used the chain to create a variety of plant and finishing conceptual designs for 3D printing.

In addition to a modular system architecture that allows for the use of an “interchangeable cylinder principle” and multiple beam sources, potentially production-ready optical designs were created. The AutoAdd partners also analyzed GKN’s novel scalable materials, as well as created some promising post-processing concepts that could be automated, such as support structure removal.

KIT was the partner which ended up evaluating these new factory designs.

According to a Fraunhofer ILT press release, “Using a simulation model, the engineers of the wbk Institute for Production Science visualized an exemplary, conventional process chain, in which they were able to design various possible LPBF plant concepts. With methods such as cost or benchmark analyzes, they were able to compare the new approaches from a technical and economic point of view with previous ones.”

Long-term recording of the contour exposure during 3D printing of a grinding wheel. [Image: MTU Aero Engines AG]

There were several positive effects stemming from the €3.37 million project, at least in terms of academics. There was enough useful content from AutoAdd to fuel four separate dissertations, and this knowledge can also be used for lectures in the future. Next year, a new project, partially based on the AutoAdd results, will launch that’s focused on line-integration of 3D printing to “implement the designed additive process chain.”

The joint project results are interesting and impressive, showing that it is indeed possible to achieve additive mass manufacturing. For instance, the whole process chain can be automated, making it more efficient and cost-effective, as the team discovered that modular cylinders and wet-chemical immersion baths are effective ways to remove, batchwise, components during post-processing. In addition, common metrics for evaluating LPBF manufacturing equipment were developed by the AutoAdd project partners, which can be used to identify popular equipment manufacturers for a large-scale benchmarking exercise.

“By using standardized benchmark jobs with different test specimens, industrial users can now calculate transferable key figures with which they will be able to find the most economical system for their purposes,” the press release noted.

One of the most, if not the most, important points the AutoAdd team needed in order to make 3D printing ready for series production was the ability to reproduce mechanical properties. The partners took an important fundamental step by demonstrating and evaluating this feature in multiple facilities – showing that it is possible to integrate an economic additive process chain in automotive mass production.

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Aurora Labs announces sales boost from the S-Titanium Pro in Q1 FY2019 report

Aurora Labs, an Australian metal 3D printer manufacturer, has reported a boost in the sales of its metal 3D printer Aurora Labs S-Titanium Pro. According to the most recent quarterly financial returns of the company, “Aurora is pleased with the continued progress from its S-Titanium Pro with sales revenue increasing to near 70% of the total […]

Wipro 3D and its plans in the 3D Printing Market Interview with VP Ajay Parikh

Wipro is an $8 billion 164,000 employee Indian technology company. The company runs large outsourcing and technology implementation projects, and is one of the world’s largest IT firms. May may be surprised that Wirpro has a 3D printing arm. Moreover, Wipro 3D was set up in 2012. Wipro 3D has grown to be a metal 3D printing service provider that also offers 3D printing consulting, 3D printing engineering services, research services. The company is aiming to be a full spectrum player for 3D printing offering everything from sketch to the setting up of complete 3D printing service centers. We were very curious to see what Wipro 3D was up to and spoke to Ajay Parikh the VP and Business Head, Wipro 3D to find out more about the company’s plans.

Why is Wipro active in 3D Printing?

“Additive Manufacturing and related know-how is going to play a dominant role in how we conceive, design, produce and use objects. AM is going to push the limits of material science, and allow us to explore frontiers, never before imagined and disrupt manufacturing and supply chain processes globally. Wipro3D is Wipro’s initiative to be part of the future of manufacturing.

If we go by numbers, leading analysts had assessed the size of the additive manufacturing Market at USD 6 Bn in 2016, and expect it to grow to USD 16 -20 Bn in 2020 at a growth rate of 27%. They attribute this growth to the Metal AM market owing to an increase in its industrial applications. The growth of Metal AM is expected to be 42% with Aerospace, Automotive and Medical segments driving the growth.”

Is adoption on the rise?

“We assess adaption maturity of new tech essentially based on type and extent of end-use adaption, the ecosystem maturity and how rate at which the technology is evolving. If we look at the rate of enterprise adaption across the globe, it’s been pretty rapid in the last few years, metal 3D printing being the highlight. The entry and investments of large players like GE, HP in addition to entrenched incumbents such as EOS, Stratasys etc, further reinforces confidence. Besides a select set of full suite solution providers with global aspirations offer services ranging from Additive Consulting, Engineering, Manufacturing and R&D to turnkey solutions are driving up adaption.”

How do your consultants work with customers to help them get into 3D printing?

“Our Consultants study the client context, analyse opportunities and identify use cases that deliver the maximum benefit of Additive Manufacturing. We work with clients to design, redesign and adapt new and existing designs and geometries to 3D printing, work on material solutions, as well as end use prove outs, as well as process capability to reach regular and predictable use of additive manufacturing in their business operations. The central consideration in our engagement will customers is the business value that we can generate for the customer with 3d printing.”

Are you primarily focused on metal printing?

“Yes. Our focus is metal 3D printing and we see merit in offering complete suite of services such as Additive Consulting, Additive Product Engineering, Reverse Engineering, Series production of parts using Additive Manufacturing, R&D solutions as well as design, set up and operations of captive centres. We also offer process capability improvement programs. Given Wipro’s strength in business solutions, we can offer an integrated digital manufacturing solution including automation and iot use cases working closely with other businesses of Wipro.”

How do you work with customers in a design and engineering capacity?

“3D printing allows designers and engineers to completely rethink the way they approach product engineering. Given our strong background in product as well as additive engineering, we work with customers to analyse existing geometries, conceptualize products to take advantage of the freedom of design and manufacturing that 3d printing brings, and design the entire manufacturing process to assure repeatability and reliable , functional performance of the product in service conditions. These services are based on our deep understanding of various aspects of the technology. We thoroughly understand the deep interconnect between Additive Engineering, product engineering, materials science, pre-build, build and post-build strategies, to finally prove-out components that meet customers’ production and service condition needs. Design offerings are offered either as a standalone service, or as a part of the complete component realization solution.”

You also have 3D printing capacity in-house? In which technologies?

“We have a fully integrated Additive Manufacturing Centre in Bangalore, India catering to domestic and international customers, adhering to best practices and standards in Additive Manufacturing. We have a full-fledged design studio, best in class industrial grade metal 3D printers, a comprehensive post-processing shop as well as full-fledged materials characterization lab. While we currently use powder bed fusion as the default additive manufacturing technology, we are in the process of including various other technologies to suit specific industry applications. We are also in the process of manufacturing a purpose built machine to meet the demanding needs of customers.”

Do you focus on a particular market, vertical or application at all?

“Aerospace, Space, Defence, Energy, Automotive and specific applications in Healthcare are some of the sectors that we currently serve with a domain led focus.”

What are some examples of 3D printed parts that really add value?

“An appropriate selection of components and AM technology to address specific business case is important for a sustainable AM program within an enterprise. Wipro3D has a structured and systematic consulting framework that helps customers design an entire roadmap.

For a “successful” use case, the AM intervention needs either improve functional performance, improve manufacturing efficacy, reduce time to market or address supply chain issues.”

Wipro3D assists the space, aerospace and Défense with mission critical service ready components, that are proven out including components that are in space. We also offer industry For Healthcare too we offer optimized components that result in improve system design as well as performance. The Automotive industry is under constant pressure to release new products and Wipro 3D is helping compress their time to market with high fidelity prototypes for automobile and two-wheeler manufacturers in various subsystems. The Injection Moulding industry has benefitted from the freedom of design and manufacture afforded by AM with the freedom of design that AM offers.”

In which industries do you see 3D printing becoming strong in the immediate future?

“As you know, Aerospace, Space, Defence and Healthcare are at the forefront of AM adoption We feel major growth in usage of AM will also come from Automotive, Oil & Gas, and Industrial sectors employing different variants of metal AM technologies.”

Do you think that clusters of desktop systems will compete with industrial systems in manufacturing?

“Both systems have unique and mutually exclusive use cases and as such we see them coexisting.”

Do you think that one particular technology will win out over others?

All 3D printing technologies will co-exist with each other given the variety of applications, engineering needs and service conditions across industries.

What is Wipro’s ambition in 3D printing?

“We aim to be among the leading global full suite players in metal and advanced materials additive manufacturing solutions.”

What would be your top tips to a large company wanting to explore 3D printing? What are some of the roadblocks for manufacturers when switching to 3D printing?

“It is critical to find the right applications within the enterprise and identify the right type of additive manufacturing technology to create proper use and business cases. Enterprises need to work with the right Additive Manufacturing solution provider, which whom the enterprise can co-create and execute a long term adaption roadmap A systematic adaption roadmap is key. A good AM solution provider can make a big difference. Another aspect is executive sponsorship. If this is not on the board’s agenda, there is pretty good chance it’s going to be limited to prototyping. Moreover, you need high resilience. When it comes to enterprise adaption, certainly Return on Capital Employed, Utilization, Service life, comparison to conventionally manufactured components in terms of mechanical properties are top of the mind considerations. As in any case, early adopters face a steep learning curve, but one which is to come in handy, as the technology matures and use cases grow. Start now, with a strong business outcome objective, ideally working with a strategic solutions partner.

Students Learn Digital Manufacturing Through Design and 3D Printing of Turbine Blades

In a paper entitled “Application of Additive Manufacturing in Design & Manufacturing Engineering Education,” a pair of researchers from University College Dublin detail how they implemented a program on digital manufacturing and materials processing using 3D printing in an undergraduate engineering course. The students used 3D printing technology to fabricate a turbocharger turbine part. Three research questions were presented:

Can the use of digital manufacturing in engineering education increase student engagement?
Can the use of self-guided learning via digital manufacturing increase insights and understanding of the design and manufacturing process?
Can the use of self-guided learning increase the enjoyment and desire to learn?

The study involved a class of 90 undergraduate engineering students. Introductory lectures were given on topics such as digital manufacturing, additive and subtractive manufacturing, and 3D design and printing processes. The students were given background information along with examples of publications on turbine design, then were divided into groups of three and given periods between four and seven weeks to design and test turbocharger blades.

“As the practical element of the course was carried out over a 4-week period, there was considerable potential for competition between the groups as well as for peer learning,” the researchers state. “This helped to facilitate multiple learning styles and environments. From a manufacturing viewpoint there is the initial challenge of understanding why and where to use certain processes.”

The students were given a lot of freedom, as no prescribed methodologies or solutions on turbine design were provided. The project was designed to be carried out for low cost; two 3D printers were used, one of them a Zmorph. The material used was PLA. Cura slicing software was used, along with Autodesk Inventor Professional for design. Four major components were included in the turbine design: the turbine itself, the housing, the turbine shaft and the mounting unit. The students had to consider the following parameters: blade radius, blade angle, blade thickness, and number of blades.

The 3D printing itself had to be completed within a 40 minute period, and the turbine performance and characterization had to be completed within an hour and a half prototyping lab. Each student group had to determine what printing settings to use. Once the part was completed, the turbine speed, dimensions, and layer morphology were evaluated, followed by a feedback session.

A student survey was carried out to evaluate the students’ prior knowledge in 3D printing as well as the level of interest and value in the course. All of the students had some prior knowledge of 3D design, but limited experience in 3D printing. The researchers conclude that in the future, it may be useful to offer different levels of challenge to the students based on their prior experience.

Overall, the course was highly successful, with the students reporting largely positive and enthusiastic feedback. The researchers state that the course could have benefited from more than one prototyping session, which may be included in a future course. The benefits of digital manufacturing and 3D printing were clearly shown, however.

“The course has great potential as a platform learning experience to educate engineers in a number of critical areas of digital manufacturing, covering innovation, engineering design, manufacturing, simulation, and prototyping whilst being low cost and easily replicated,” the researchers conclude.

Authors of the paper include Dr. Shane G. Keaveney and Professor Denis P. Dowling.

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SALE EXTENDED: Take 15% off Sitewide Today AND Tuesday

Sale Extended By Popular Demand!

Our Cyber Monday offer has been extended until the end of Tuesday! Take an extra day to browse and shop on Shapeways.com for 15% off sitewide* with code HAPPYMONDAY.

This is truly our best offer of the year so don’t miss out. Set yourself a reminder to order before November 28 at 3AM EST.

Happy Holiday shopping!

*15% off discount applies to a designer’s own uploads and models in the Marketplace. Promo code HAPPYMONDAY must be entered at checkout. Code is valid for 4 uses per customer with a maximum discount of $250 USD per order before taxes and VAT. If you order a design during the promotion period that cannot be printed, we cannot apply discounts to future orders (even if these designs are repaired) that occur after this promotion has expired. Code cannot be combined with other discounts or offer codes, or applied to orders already placed. Discount does not apply to shipping. No cash value. Eligible with economy or priority manufacturing. Code is active starting November 26, 2018 at 12:01am Eastern Standard Time and expires November 28, 2018 at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time.

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Etihad Partners With EOS Systems For Printing Airplane Interiors

World-renowned aerospace services provider Etihad is looking to change up their production processes by adding 3D printing to the mix. As part of a new partnership with EOS systems, Etihad will be printing cabin interior components at its Abu Dhabi facility. This is a crucial development considering that Etihad is the largest aerospace maintenance, repair and […]

The post Etihad Partners With EOS Systems For Printing Airplane Interiors appeared first on 3D Printing.

BMBF project creates novel concepts for metal 3D printing in automotive production

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) project has concluded after three years of examining the “Integration of Additive Manufacturing Processes in Automobile Series Production,” also known as “AutoAdd.” Coordinated by Daimler AG, a German multinational automotive corporation, this BMBF project included BMW Group, GKN Sinter Metals Engineering,TRUMPF, Autodesk, as well as the […]