3D Printing, Now With More Jet Engine Parts

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hobbyists will likely be confined to 3D-printing objects out of
plastic for a few years to come, but the technology moves forward
in leaps and bounds. Avio, an Italian engineering firm which is
part of GE Aviation, has developed a new printing process that
makes objects strong enough to be used as jet engine turbine
blades. The new process is a step beyond the laser sintering that
produced a
headline-grabbing Model 1911 semiautomatic pistol last
year.

From GE:

Engineers at the Italian aerospace company Avio have developed a
breakthrough process for 3D printing light-weight metal blades for
jet engine turbines.

The method builds the blades from a titanium powder fused with a
beam of electrons accelerated by a 3-kilowatt electron gun.

The gun is 10 times more powerful than laser beams currently
used for printing metal parts. This boost in power allows
Avio, which is part of GE Aviation, to build blades from
layers of powder that are more than four times thicker than those
used by laser-powered 3D printers. 

As a result, one machine can produce eight stage 7 blades for
the low pressure turbine that goes inside the GEnx jet engine in
just 72 hours. “This is very competitive with casting, which is how
we used to make them,” says Mauro Varetti, advanced manufacturing
engineer at Avio.

The Electron Beam Melting process which was developed along with
Arcam, a Swedish firm, has the added advantage of allowing
aerospace manufacturers to use titanium aluminide, wich allows for
strong engine parts 20 percent lighter than those made with
traditional alloys. Other techniques for working with the stuff
apparently result all too often in fragile scrap.

Jet engine fuel nozzles are next on the list of items to be 3D
printed (those will be made in Alabama), with other parts to
come.

Again, this isn’t hobbyist technology, and won’t be for years to
come (if ever). But as evidence of how far 3D printing technology
is pushing the business of manufacturing and creating improved
processes and products, this is pretty impressive.