China3D printingNet, November 3, at the end of last month, we reported on the first Advanced Manufacturing Olympics organized by the US Air Force Rapid Support Office (RSO). In this news, we reported that the team led by Origin has been selected to participate. Origin is Origin-One programmable photosensitive polymer3D printingThe California company behind the machine worked with nTopology, a software provider for generative design and topology optimization, and Stress Engineering Services, an engineering consulting company in Texas, to jointly tackle the Approval Sprint challenge. In the virtual event held from October 20th to 23rd, the team won the first place.
Image courtesy of Origin, nTopology and Stress Engineering Services
This unique virtual event, the Advanced Manufacturing Olympics, faces five challenges that focus on additive manufacturing and reverse engineering methods: technical data packet relay, parts bin floor exercises, material barriers, supply chain marathons and Approve the sprint. Approval of the sprint requires the team to meet the rapid production needs of the Air Force fleet by designing, analyzing and delivering alternative solutions for additive manufacturing of traditional parts with equivalent performance. These solutions can be quickly deployed to maintain the operation of F-16 fighters.
“Advanced manufacturing technologies can be produced quickly to maintain production; however, it will be difficult to use these capabilities without major improvements to the Air Force’s certification methods and the timetable for approving new materials, new processes, and new parts. Selected Sprint approval The team will compete to provide alternative solutions for polymer additive manufacturing to quickly deploy designated F-16 aircraft components. The goal of this technical challenge is to determine innovative strategies to quickly design, identify and deploy sustainable solutions, and Utilize new manufacturing materials, processes and components.”
The Approval Sprint Challenge began at the end of August this year and provided the winning team with a potential contract of $100,000. The team signed a contract with the US Air Force. The winning team led by Origin began remote cooperation in September, combining nTopology’s design solutions and Stress Engineering has the expertise to develop feasible solutions to the challenging F-16 component problems. The problematic part is the hydraulic pipe clamp of the F-16 Falcon (considered the most successful combat-proven fighter in the world). The fixture is part of the C1375 series of thousands of hydraulic clamps in the Air Force F-16 fleet. It is a component in the F-16 landing gear cavity. Its geometry or design began in 1966. These parts usually fail due to “long exposure to vibration, chemical environment and thermal cycling”. In addition, the traditional manufacturing method of fixture parts will generate toxic formaldehyde gas, high production cost and long delivery time.
Image courtesy of nTopology
The award-winning multi-material fixture assembly is designed on the nTopology platform, 3D printingOnboard3D printing, And verified by Stress Engineering Services, were selected from eight competing products, including other companies Stratasys, Markforged, and National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR). The multi-material parts of the Origin team are made using Loctite 3955 (a flame-retardant and chemical-resistant material) developed by Henkel and an elastomer IND402 for tether material. Origin has been working with it since 2015. Collaborate in the Open Materials Project.This part, with a pair of fixtures and 3D tether, can be printed at one time, successfully meeting the challenging requirements
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