sirris_am in aviation and aerospace_state of the art

Metal Additive Manufacturing

A game changer for the manufacturing industry?

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Overview of Metal AM technologies

Definition

Additive Manufacturing AM

3D Printing

Layer by layer process

No necessary tools required

26-year history in plastics

Nearly 20-year in metals

[Courtesy of Materialise]

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Direct, single-step processes for tool-less manufacturing

Complete local melting of metal

Wide variety of standard metal alloys possible

More than 99.5% dense parts

Almost unlimited freedom of shape

Structures: complex, inner, delicate, bionic, topology-

optimized, lattice, graded

Limits: size, inner geometries, support structures



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“… A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new

workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the potential to revolutionize

the way we make almost everything …“

“… We can’t wait” initiative …”

Barack Obama, President of the USA, February 2013


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« … in our lifetime, at least 50% of the engine will be made with

additive technologies… »

Robert McEwan, General Manager, GE Aviation (2011)


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Manufacturing readiness (metals)

Origin: meant to create prototypes

First commercial metal printer in 1995

Current AM systems are not designed for series production

« Decentralization state of mind »

Process speed, material costs and process control have not been an issue for prototyping.

AM needs to show that it can manufacture parts economically, in volume and with constant quality for several applications

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 Full rate production

Low rate production

Pilot line capability demonstrated

Production in production env. demonstrated

Systems produced (near production env.)

Basic capabilities shown (near prod. env.)

Technology validated in laboratory env.

Manufacturing proof of concept developed

Manufacturing concept identified

Basic manufacturing implications identified

TRL


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1

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10 Full rate production

Low rate production

Pilot line capability demonstrated

Production in production env. demonstrated

Systems produced (near production env.)

Basic capabilities shown (near prod. env.)

Technology validated in laboratory env.

Manufacturing proof of concept developed

Manufacturing concept identified

Basic manufacturing implications identified

TRL

Dental, medical instrumentation, implants, artistic, …

tooling, space, drones, defense, …

aviation, automobile, …


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x2 growth


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AM in the aircraft engine industry:

Aero engines suppliers have been exploring metal AM technology since 2003

For performance testing of AM products, engine suppliers require high quantities of AM samples and therefore invest heavily in AM

Key players have expanded manufacturing capacity recently by procuring new equipment and acquiring suppliers

For series production, manufacturing capacity needs to be further extended


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AM in the aircraft engine industry - Potential:

Potential volume for new turbine series could be up to several thousand per year

Key AM components are found multiple times in each engine (injection nozzles – thousands of componants per year)

New generation of turbines is expected to be launched within the next 3 years, so the manufacturing infrastructure needs to be established in time

AM fuel nozzles offer great potential as they are lighter an enable a reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions


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AM benefits: Design optimization –new functions


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Powder bed technologies

Laser Beam Melting (LBM)

Selective Laser Melting

(SLM)

LaserCusing

Direct Metal Laser Sintering

(DMLS)

Electron Beam Melting (EBM)

Material jetting process


Powder deposition technologies

Laser Engineered Net Shaping

(LENS)

Direct Metal Depositioning (DMD)

Laser Cladding

Metal AM

Others:

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Generalities: Metal Additive Manufacturing

09/04/2014 16 © Sirris | www.sirris.be | [email protected] |

Direct

Fabrication

system

Laser

E-Beam

Print head

Nozzle

Post-

processing

Indirect

Binder

Debinding

+ sintering

Post-

processing

Generalities: Metal Additive Manufacturing


Hybrid Fabrication

system

Laser + Milling

Milling + micro

forging

Post-

processing Liquid metal

jet

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Current metal AM costs under series production conditions:

Parameters (LBM technology):

Machine cost: 500k EUR

Operating time: 8 years

Machine utilization: 85%

Build rate: LBM 10cm3/h

Material: Stainless steel

Powder price: 89€/kg

2%

26%

21%

44%

7%

metal AM costs

Energy

Direct costs

(material)

Labor

Manufacturing

Overhead


Technology comparison

LBM EBM Powder

deposition

Max size (mm) 630 x 400 x 500 dia. 350 x 380 900 x 1500 x 900

Layer thickness (µm) 30 – 60 50 130-600

Min wall thickness (mm) 0.2 0.6 0.6

Accuracy (mm) +/- 0.1 +/- 0.3 N.A.

Build rate (cm³/h) 5 - 20 80-100 2-30

Surface roughness (µm) 5 - 15 15 - 20 15-20

Geometry limitations Supports needed

everywhere (thermal,

anchorage)

Less supports but

powder is sintered No powder bed.

Same limitations

as 5 axes milling

Materials Stainless steel, tool

steel, titanium,

aluminum, ceramics,

…

Only conductive

materials (Ti6Al4V,

CrCo, TiAl, Tool steel,

Cu alloy, )

Steel, Ti, Ni-base

alloys, composites,

ceramics

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Technology comparison

LBM EBM Powder deposition

Energy Source Laser Electron Beam Laser

Multi-material processing (Yes) No Yes

Productivity vs costs Poor Medium Good

Residual stresses High Low Medium

Part complexity High Medium Low

Typical applications Tooling (mould & die

inserts), Implants, all

types of meta

components incl.

prototypes

Implants, Near-net-

shape manufacturing,

turbine blades,

prototypes

Near-net-shape repair

of blisks/blades, vanes,

shafts, ducts, coatings,

…

Internal cavities Printable Printable but complex

to remove powder

Possible but limitations

Build job change Fast Medium Fast

Necessity of support

structures

High Low None

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Manufacturers (LBM)

Concept Laser (Germany)

EOS (Germany)

Phenix Systems (USA)

Realizer (Germany)

Renishaw (UK)

SLM Solutions (Germany)

Trumpf (Germany)


Manufacturers (EBM)

Arcam (Sweden)

Others

Ex ONE (USA)

Matsuura Lumex (Japan)

Hermle (Germany)

Vader Systems (USA)


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9%

12%

3%

5%

8%

18% 1%

10%

34%

Market shares

MTT Technologies

Arcam

SLM Solutions

ReaLizer

Trumpf

Concept Laser

Renishaw

Phenix Systems

EOS


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Today

Prototypes

Pre-series parts

Small batch

Production for a few very

selected parts

• First tooling applications

(particularly for plastics

injection moulding)


Tomorrow

Series production of:

Small batches

Spare parts

Assembling aids

Fixtures and tools

Future

Wide use for the production

Individual parts

Assembly groups

Tooling


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Future trends for key parameters

Build rates

Machine prices

Powder prices

Labor costs

Chamber volume

Price per part

Available materials

Quality control integration



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Necessary adoption steps for wide use in production

Challenges:

Missing technical standards

Reproducibility

Costs

Education with regard to AM design

Material variety (carbon steel, copper, ceramics, ...)

Necessary steps:

Standardisation

Quality control systems/ in-situ feedback control systems

Gained productivity

Widely spread teaching of AM principles

Material and process development


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Conclusions

The market for systems, service and materials for AM currently totals

1.7 billion EUR (2012) and is expected to quadruple over the next 10

years

The ability to manufacture metal objects without virtually no

limitations on geometry and without tools offers the opportunity to create

new products that help boost product performance or manufacture batch

sizes consisting of just one item using special highly resistant alloys.

With about 1% of the machine tool market, the share of AM is

relatively small. The supplier base for metal AM machines is dominated

by German suppliers. In addition, an infrastructure of engineering and

AM service providers has developed close to technological leaders in

aerospace, turbine development and motorsport production.


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Conclusions

In certain areas, the technology has already achieved manufacturing

readiness (dental, design, hip implants), whereas in the aerospace and

turbine industry, process development and complex field testing are

ongoing. The potential of AM in these industries is extremely high, which

means that AM is on the agenda of every CTO.

The costs of this technology are significantly higher than for

conventional production, so it can be only justified by special benefits in

the lifecycle or tooling costs. A detailed analysis of the current

manufacturing cost and evaluation of expected improvements reveals a

cost reduction potential of about 60% in the next 5 years and another

30% within the next 10 years. These reductions will significantly boost

the market for metal AM.
