GE Aviation buys 27 ARCAM electron beam metal 3D printers to produce GE9X titanium aluminide blades

GE Aviation has purchased 27 Arcam Electron Beam Melting (EBM) Metals3D printingmachine to produce titanium aluminide (TiAl) blades for the GE9X commercial aircraft engine.GE Aviation is a multinational supplier of jet engines, components and integrated systems.
GE Additive announced this major investment at the 2019 Paris International Air Show. Karl Lindblom, general manager of GE Additive Arcam EBM, said: “GE Aviation has doubled the number of its Arcam EBM machines in a relatively short period of time. We are thrilled that this is a great opportunity for our team, and Spectra H in particular. A great endorsement.”

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metal for aircraft engines3D printing

Currently, GE Aviation Avio Aero operates 35 Arcam machines at its recently expanded facility in Cameri, Italy. With this new investment, 17 Arcam EBM A2X machines and 10 Arcam Spectra H metal additive manufacturing systems will be installed at GE Aviation and Avio Aero plants in the US and Europe.
EBM technology utilizes a high-power electron beam to rapidly produce parts without residual stress in a controlled environment. According to GE Aviation, the additively manufactured TiAl blades are half the weight of conventional nickel alloy turbine blades. Arcam EBM A2X machines can produce 6 blades per batch, while Spectra H systems can produce up to 10 blades in about the same amount of time.

The GE9X engine, developed by GE Aviation for Boeing’s new 777X wide-body jet, is expected to benefit from the weight savings of TiAl blades, as it can reduce fuel consumption by 10 percent compared to its predecessor, the GE90.

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Eric Gatlin, general manager of the Additives team at GE Aviation, explained: “Having a strong additive technology infrastructure is an important part of the GE9X program.”

(responsible editor: admin)