Page 24 - 3D Metal Printing Summer 2019

3D Market Report: Aerospace
brackets and fuel nozzles,” says Gabriel. “As more materials and equipment clear the regulatory process, there continues to be innovations in 3D printed aero- space parts and tooling as well as more equipment advance- ments.” Gabriel looks forward to multilaser machines with larger build footprints for greater throughput and pro- ductivity, and bigger parts.
At Whitcraft Group, whose fabricating business is 95-per-
cent aerospace with a customer
list that includes Pratt & Whit-
ney, GE and Rolls Royce, CEO
Doug Folsom believes that 3D printing has the potential to
change his business. “The
change will be more of an evo-
lution, rather than a revolution,
but we want to be proactive,
which led us to acquire the
Form 3D Solutions. Whitcraft
uses metal 3D printing for weld
fixtures featuring inlet tubes to
enable precision welding.
“With 3D printing,” Folsom explains, “you have the ability
to add inlets and holes where needed.”
Like Whitcraft, Lincoln Electric, provider of welding solutions, stresses a proactive approach to metal AM. Already working with customers, the company is preparing for a formal opening of its Addi- tive Solutions facility, with more than 20 robotic AM systems, later this year. Lincoln Electric recently completed the acquisi- tion of Baker Industries, a Detroit, MI- based provider of custom tooling, parts and fixtures for the automotive and aero- space markets. Baker’s inhouse design and manufacturing capabilities include metal 3D printing of tools for aerospace applications using EOS M290 DMLS machines. Brian Baker, vice president and general manager of Baker, says that as demand for lighter weight and greater fuel efficiency drives the development of more composite components for aero-
years,” he explains. “Together with our expertise in metallurgy and process tech- nologies, such as arc and laser hot-wire welding, these acquisitions demonstrate our ongoing commitment to additive. So, too, does the 3-yr. CRADA (cooperative research and development agreement) we signed in May with Oak Ridge National Laboratories, agreeing to continue col- laboration on large-scale, robotic additive manufacturing and the development of new materials and data analytics, with the goal of producing wire-based metal additive components at 100 lb./hr. We’re also considering other acquisitions.
“Our vision,” he continues, “is to think of parts holistically—from CAD to finished part, and to identify where it makes sense to incorporate additive and/or subtractive processes. Introducing a services business capable of producing parts for customers is atypical of Lincoln, but this is part of our strategy moving forward.”
(See more about Lincoln Electric’s AM work on pp. 26-27.)
Future Is Bright
Looking ahead, Deloitte’s Lineberger says that aerospace will continue as a bright spot in the global economy, made even brighter by new vertical takeoff and landing ( VTOL) and unmanned aerial sys- tems (UAS). “Bell Flight, Airbus and Boeing all are building prototypes for electrical and hybrid VTOL aircraft that can be used in and around urban areas,” says Lineberg- er. “In essence, we’re talking flying taxis that would take off vertically, transition to horizontal flight to transport people and/or cargo, and then land vertically.”
Why not? Amazon continues to test its drone-delivery service, while in Baltimore, MD, a drone recently transported a human kidney nearly 3 miles to a nearby hospital, where a team of surgeons successfully trans- planted the organ into a critically ill patient.
Given these developments, one might say that when it comes to aerospace, the sky’s the limit. 3DMP
Note: For more on the aerospace market, see the July issue of MetalForming.
22 | 3D METAL PRINTING • SUMMER 2019
3DMPmag.com
One of Lincoln Electric’s metal AM cells uses wire as a feedstock and proprietary motion-control software to direct the movements of the robot. In this example, carbon steel is deposited to form a near-net or as- printed part for finish machining.
space. 3D-printed tooling made of alu- minum and steel alloys, as well as hybrid tooling that combines additive with sub- tractive manufacturing—CNC machining for example—enable faster tooling turn- arounds by automotive Tier Ones and aerospace companies.
Looking ahead, Mark Douglass, Lin- coln’s business development manager, Additive Solutions, says his group antici- pates accelerating large format wire-based metal additive in certain markets such as aerospace. “Baker, as a platform acquisi- tion and with its relationships, allows us to do that,” says Douglass.
Moreover, he says, the Wolf Robotics acquisition in 2015 accelerated Lincoln’s investment in developing complex motion control and CAD-to-path software for making larger parts. “We’ve been working on large-format additive for roughly 10