Roboze One
Italian 3D printer manufacturer, Roboze has announced the company is providing its newest machines for the next generation of Fused Layer Manufacturing to the CTC GmbH, an Airbus subsidiary.
CTC is responsible for testing and evaluating industrial print technology and materials. Under Airbus’ operation, CTC is also committed to examining future applications in the aviation industry.
Working alongside Roboze, CTC will assess the Italian company’s technology against stringent aircraft process and materials requirements. Then, the needs and boundaries for the 3D printing of advanced techno-polymers, including PEEK and PEI, will be fed back to Roboze. From here, the plan is for Roboze then to develop future products that will meet the needs of Airbus.
CTC is a leading centre in Germany for research and development of complex components based on carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP). The company is currently working to apply next-gen 3D printing technologies for the development of composite parts. This alignment with Roboze is one step towards that goal.
“In CTC we have always worked on consolidating the current production of aircraft components in composites and, above all, on anticipating future ones,” said Johannes Born, the project manager leading the Additive Manufacturing topics at CTC. “3D printing of engineering-grade plastics is one of them.”
CTC has sought to adopt Roboze technology, citing its capability of printing 13 technical materials for high-performance applications in extreme environments.
“We were looking for an ideal solution to support our needs in terms of precision, technology and materials that offer high performance and high temperatures,” added Born. “By acquiring the Roboze One + 400, CTC will assess its capabilities in order to accelerate the design and production of small series using advanced materials such as PEEK and PEI, thus enabling functional testing of real parts that might go into production in the coming years.”
The Roboze One + 400 has previously been utilised by Mecaer Aviation Group, a manufacturer of custom interiors for luxury helicopters. Again, the range of high-performance materials separated Roboze’s printing technology from the rest. Now, Roboze will be leveraging its One + 400 printer to CTC and the company is excited about what the partnership will bring.
“We are excited to collaborate closely with the Airbus group and in particular with CTC and with high level engineers such Mr Born and Mr Backhaus, [project manager of CTC’s Industrial Systems Department],” said Alessio Lorusso, Roboze CEO. “We spoke extensively about the current needs of the group, which should be the goal for Roboze’s products now and in the future. We also had the opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions on the future applications that we can develop together.”
Roboze will be exhibiting its latest 3D printing technology at next month's RAPID + TCT, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at Booth #850.
