Airbus has achieved a 3D printing first with the installation of a 3D printed titanium bracket on a series production commercial aircraft. Manufactured by Arconic, a global technology, engineering, and advanced manufacturing company, the 3D printed titanium bracket was installed on a series production Airbus commercial aircraft, the A350 XWB.
The road to manufacturing success today runs through the mountain of data that tools are generating in metalcutting applications, and most importantly communicating and reacting to in real time on the shop floor.
Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a fast-growing field that offers many advantages over traditional techniques. It can create more complex parts than either machining or casting, can fuse different materials together, and is sometimes less expensive in low-volume or prototype applications.
Sciaky Inc. (Chicago) has staked its claim to being the leading provider of metal 3D printing solutions for large parts approved for land, sea, air, and space applications, with the latest success being its Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) technology. Sciaky was called upon to manufacture a titanium variable ballast (VB) tank for a submarine manufacturer.
When Desktop Metal introduced its “office-friendly” Studio metal prototype printer earlier this year, the company renewed attention on the issue of safer materials for binder jetting, an additive manufacturing method.
HP Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) said today it’s introducing an industrial-sized 3D printer and expanding its offering of materials for additive manufacturing.
New ISO safety specification helps automation developers design safer robots for close encounters on the factory floor
Cutting tool and tooling systems specialist Sandvik Coromant has unveiled its CoroPlus suite of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions aimed at helping manufacturers prepare for Industry 4.0. The concept is designed specifically to improve the control of productivity and costs through a combination of machine connectivity and CoroPlus – the suite of connectivity solutions from Sandvik Coromant – helps manufacturers prepare for Industry 4.0 access to manufacturing data and expert knowledge.
Modern manufacturing is rapidly adopting model-based definition (MBD). When employing an MBD strategy, the CAD model becomes more than the nominal to which all parts are measured and inspected against. MBD keeps the all-important digital thread intact—from design to manufacturing to inspection and quality reporting.
The nexus of cyber and physical security threats is the stuff of nightmares, and while manufacturers are waking up to it as a reality, experts worry that the awakening is happening too slowly.
