China3D printingNet August 24th, researchers from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) of the University of Sheffield have used3D printingTo assist the aerospace manufacturer Airbus in a large-scale manufacturing project.
Engineers can produce 500 drill caps in only 10 days, and this work usually takes several weeks, so engineers turned to Formlabs3D printingtechnology. By shortening the lead time by a few weeks to only two days, the project is still proceeding as planned and within budget.
AMRC’s printing yard includes 12 Formlabs Form 2 3D printingmachine. Filmed by AMRC.
High precision drill cap
AMRC engineers are assigned to perform high-precision drilling operations involving carbon fiber, aluminum and titanium aerospace parts. According to the tolerance requirements of the aerospace grade, it is vital that no cross-contamination occurs between the holes during the project. The team realized that they needed to cover the hole with a drill cap, but could not choose traditional machining or injection molding, as this would cause delays of several weeks.
AMRC project engineer George Sleath explained: “After drilling a hole and moving to the next hole, we need to cover the first hole so that all the waste generated will not cross-contaminate the second hole. When we are aware When there are special requirements for the hole cover, we have very little time to deliver the solution.”
Sleath’s team first tried plugging holes with aluminum parts and rubber O-rings, but the solution was not very effective. Then, they decided to design a small disc with a notch to replace the original aluminum part, which fits perfectly with the O-ring. In order to form a seal, the disc must be manufactured with very tight tolerances in an area of about half a millimeter.
Sleath added: “We have to have multiple changes because the hole sizes we want to drill are different, which means we need different hole covers. From a virtual design point of view, it does not take long to change a size, but If you want to inject parts, you must have a new mold for each part.”
500 pcs3D printingOne of the drill caps. Filmed by AMRC.
In the end, their in-house printing plant used 12 Formlabs Form 2 3D printingUsing its internal design, the AMRC team successfully printed 500 high-precision drill caps in just two days. This method is inexpensive and much faster than injection molding methods. Since the parts are manufactured by additive materials, the design also includes other geometries, which means it can be installed more easily.
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Comment: The feedback from the operators who installed them is great. The performance of most parts is in full compliance with expectations, and there is no damage during operation. If we did not solve the design problem during the test, then we can quickly feed it back into the design cycle and make changes instead of sending the first design to the service department, and realize that when all the designs are sent to the customer, Some minor changes were needed and 500 people returned within a few weeks. “
In addition to its3D printingIn addition to the machine product portfolio, Formlabs also offers a variety of resins suitable for a variety of applications. The company recently launched six new resins for Form 3, Form 3B and Form 2 3D printingmachine. These materials bring the total number of proprietary resins to more than 25, mainly for engineering, healthcare and dental professionals.
Earlier this year, Formlabs also announced a partnership with dental materials specialist BEGO to advance the development of temporary and permanent dental restorations.3D printing.Further expanding the material portfolio, dental professionals using Form 3B and Form 2 systems will now be able to use BEGO’s proprietary resin to directly perform the procedure for the patient3D printingRestoration.
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