February 18, 2014 | Volume 10 Issue 07 |
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Engineers at additive manufacturing specialist EOS have partnered with Airbus Group Innovations (previously EADS Innovation Works) to assess the conventional design of a steel cast bracket against the corresponding topology-optimized design of the EOS titanium bracket made by a form of 3D printing called direct metal laser-sintering (DMLS).
The steel cast bracket (left) was compared to the EOS titanium bracket (right) made through additive manufacturing. Source: Airbus Group Innovations.
The Airbus Group Innovations-EOS eco-assessment, applied to an Airbus A320 nacelle hinge bracket (a highly standardized part), strove to include detailed aspects of the overall lifecycle: from the supplier of the raw powder metal, to the equipment manufacturer (EOS), and to the end-user (Airbus Group Innovations). Adapted from Airbus' streamlined lifecycle assessment (SLCA) and ISO 14040 series requirements data, the testing will serve as the basis for continued "cradle-to-cradle" study into other aerospace parts, processes, and end-of-life strategies.
"We have worked in a bold, new collaboration with Airbus Group Innovations on integrating business and ecological sustainability from sourcing through to product development," says Nicola Knoch, environmental and sustainability consultant to EOS. "There is now a valuable, holistic baseline established on our technology regarding the measurable costs, benefits, and impacts of DMLS. This sets the groundwork for future technology developments in additive manufacturing and further studies."
As a first step, the SLCA was conducted on a generic bracket benchmarking the DMLS process with a conventional casting process used as the baseline. Comparing the lifecycle of a steel bracket (casting process) with the lifecycle of a design-optimized titanium bracket (DMLS):
Another example of improved part design: A prototype of a topology-optimized Airbus A380 bracket made of stainless steel powder produced via DMLS with conventional bracket behind. [Source: EADS].
The second phase of the analysis focused on the manufacturing process for the design-optimized bracket using titanium as an ideal, common material -- and, this time, benchmarking the manufacturing process of investment casting against that of DMLS via the EOSINT M 280 system:
"DMLS has demonstrated a number of benefits, as it can support the optimization of design and enable subsequent manufacture in low-volume production," says Jon Meyer, Additive Layer Manufacturing Research Team Leader, in his final report. "In general, the joint study revealed that DMLS has the potential to build light, sustainable parts with due regard for the company's CO2 footprint."
To read a more detailed version of this study, click here.
Source: EOS
Published February 2014