WAAM3D RoboWAAM metal 3D printer
WAAM3D RoboWAAM metal 3D printer.
WAAM3D is to work with industrial and academic partners to innovate on the manufacture of aircraft landing gear with wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM).
Their efforts are to form part of a 22.5 million GBP project known as I-Break (Landing Gear Industrial Breakthroughs), which will bring together a world-leading aircraft OEM (believed to be Airbus) and 15 partners to develop major landing gear structural components. The collaborators range from industry leaders to small businesses to academics to research organisations, who will carry out research and development through a range of ‘work packages.’
In WAAM3D’s work package, the additive manufacturing vendor will work closely with Cranfield University, The University of Strathclyde, and Peak NDT. Cranfield University is a postgraduate university that works on WAAM processes and on the validation of deposition of new alloys, and the University of Strathclyde has expertise in on-line non-destructive testing techniques. Peak NDT, meanwhile, is a manufacturer of high performance conventional and phased-array ultrasonic instrumentation, working on on-line non-destructive testing hardware systems.
Together, this group of collaborators will work to industrialise higher productivity WAAM variants, control microstructure and mechanical properties for high-integrity structural applications, industrialise on-line non-destructive testing techniques, and produce demonstrator parts of relevant size and complexity on WAAM3D’s upgraded RoboWAAM systems.
The aim of the overall project is to combine additive manufacturing, powder hot isostatic pressing and composites to develop major landing gear components (that had previously been produced using large forgings) to reduce time to market and reduce industrial C02 footprint by 30%. I-Break is being delivered through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme and funded through a larger UK government initiative that has allocated 218 million GBP to enable a number of ‘ground-breaking R&D aerospace projects.’
Read more | Cranfield University: Enabling WAAM in manufacturing aircraft landing gear
Cranfield University shares its finding after carrying out a feasibility and reliability study on 3D printed aircraft landing gear.
Gary Elliott, CEO of the Aerospace Technology Institute, commented: “The investment through the ATI Programme that the Industry Minister, Nusrat Ghani announced at the Paris Air Show will support a range of world-class research projects in technologies to improve the sustainability of aerospace, from new design processes to new materials.”
The I-Break project is currently due to be completed in 2026.
