China3D printingNet October 4th, London3D printingThe consulting company Betatype was established in 2012 to optimize metal3D printingThe application has unique insights and has created functional components for customers in the aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, medical and other industries.
Last fall, Safran Electrical & Power (Safran Electrical & Power) approached the British company, which designs and manufactures electrical systems for fixed-wing and rotary-wing commercial and military aircraft to help improve the design of generator housings.
“When we were looking for additive manufacturing experts, we met Betatype. After preliminary discussions, it was clear that they have the knowledge and skills we are looking for that can add value to our new part production plan.”Safran GroupcompanySpecial Process and Composite Material Expert of Power Business DepartmentSaid Dr. Mark Craig from the Materials Department.

Auxiliary power unit generator housing, LR: current design for CNC machining, proportional plastic prototype; first-generation part optimized for AM, designed and manufactured by Betatype 5 grade titanium, full-size assembly (230 x 230 x 235 mm).
Betatype focuses on certain specific areas of parts in new and improved designs, which reduces the overall weight and increases its strength. The company created a proof of concept, the first of its case studies: an ultra-high-density lattice is used as part of a “sandwich” structure with more than ten million elements.

The first generation auxiliary power unit generator housing: the cross section of the pilot part, highlighting the metal foam core of the outer wall sandwich structure.
“We know that creating a more complex, higher-density lattice structure is the key to realizing Safran’s search for this part. Betatype CEO Sarat Babu said: “Using our technology and multi-scale methods, we can combine the scanning path with Exposure settings are controlled to every element of the “sandwich” structure design. By fusing the laser powder bed far beyond its standard process, we created the required ultra-high density lattice structure. “
Whether the proof of concept was successful and whether the original design of Safran was optimized, the researchers carried out3D printing, And change it from multiple machined components to a single part. In addition, Betatype can save costs by greatly reducing the time required to manufacture the housing and reducing the total number of parts.
Since 2018, the cooperation between Safran and Betatype has continued, and the latest results are even more encouraging.Safran combines its knowledge and expertise in energy and power applications with the main functions and capabilities of Betatype’s software technology development.3D printingThe combination of application expertise has pushed the project to a new level.

A perspective view of the pilot component of the second-generation auxiliary power unit generator housing designed by Betatype and manufactured by Renishaw, Stone and AlSi10Mg.
The two companies continue to work on the development of Betatype’s original proof of concept, breaking through metal3D printingThe range that can be achieved. They combined Betatype’s scalable process control technology with specific application development, which can reduce the weight of complex parts by 30% compared with the first-generation version; in addition, this also reduces the use and waste of materials.
They also used scan path optimization and precise process control that standard AM software could not provide to increase productivity, speed up the build process and ultimately reduce build time by 30%.The collaborators also switched from using sandwich panels on the parts to using external ribs, which helped reduce the profile volume while maintaining the required stiffness, and also made it possible to use aluminum instead of titanium3D printingComponents.

The top view and bottom view of the pilot part of the second-generation auxiliary power unit generator housing, designed by Betatype and manufactured by Renishaw, Stone, and AlSi10Mg.
Betatype has helped Safran exceed its additive manufacturing goals, and Safran is eager to continue using it in the future3D printingTo make other components and enclosures.
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