TheUS Air Force和aerospace manufacturerGEhave announced the latest milestone in their ‘Pacer Edge’ 3D printing program.
探路者计划旨在通过将金属添加剂制造整合到其生产工作流程中，从而提供一种新的方法来采购生产零件，以解决空军的维持问题。雷电竞充值
Phase III of the Pacer Edge program, which is ongoing, saw the partners 3D print four metal parts that are currently obsolete: a bellcrank, a cross-shaft arm, a gearbox seat, and an anti-icing valve body. Two of the parts, the bellcrank and cross-shaft arm, were 3D printed in cobalt-chrome on anM2 Series 5system located at GE Additive‘s Cincinnati facility back in November 2021. The gearbox seat and anti-icing valve body have also now been 3D printed.
USAF推进主任约翰·斯内登（John Sneden）表示：“ Pacer Edge代表了与行业创新合作伙伴关系迈出的巨大一步。通过该计划，我们的企业团队将提供安全，及时的推进准备，以支持美国战士。”
Combating obsolescence with Pacer Edge
空军的快速维持办公室（RSO）负责始终确保任务准备就绪。但是，随着空军舰队中越来越多的飞机进入他们的第六个服务及以后，使用传统制造方法的备件的采购和生产变得越来越困难。
An aircraft engine component is considered a ‘cold start’ if it takes more than 300 days to procure. According to GE, it’s estimated that the Air Force is faced with over 800 cold start parts every year.
To remedy the problem, GE and the Air Force conceived the Pacer Edge program, which aims to leverage 3D printing to source obsolete parts. The first priority of the program has been to create digital 3D technical data packages (TDPs) for four cold start parts that are hard to procure. These TDPs have now been used to 3D print the four parts.
Zack Miller, Chief, Advanced Manufacturing Program Office at the Air Force RSO, said, “The teaming of GE and the USAF legitimizes utilization of additive manufacturing to address critical needs of the aging aircraft that are currently unsupported within the existing supply chain.”
Next steps for Pacer Edge
Moving forward, GE and the Air Force plan to develop at least five TDPs over the next few years, each increasing in technical complexity. The final phase of Pacer Edge will see the establishment of a comprehensive metal 3D printing infrastructure for the Air Force. This will initially be implemented at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, helping to bypass the excessively long lead times currently experienced by the casting and forging sectors.
通过将修补匠配备其自己的增材生产链，该项目合作伙伴可以确保在Pac雷电竞充值er Edge计划中开发的任何IP将由美国政府所有。结果，国防部将能够在未来无通用电气的帮助下自己进行3D打印起诉器边缘零件。
Beth Dittmer, Chief, Propulsion Integration Division at Tinker, added, “Pacer Edge is accelerating the USAF’s wide spread adoption of 3D metal printing to organically solve supply chain shortages and realizing its promise to improve warfighter support by drastically reducing lead times and creating additional sourcing options.”
行业的交货时间问题
正如19日大流行期所表明的那样，空军并不是唯一一个遇到传统制造部件的长期领先时期的组织。为了解决行业中的问题，President Joe Biden recently announced the AM Forward program. The initiative is designed to increase the wider adoption of 3D printing by SMEs to help secure supply chains across the US manufacturing sector. Initial participants include big-time industrial players likeGE Aviation,Honeywell,Lockheed Martin,Raytheon和Siemens Energy.
“Public-private initiatives like the recently announced ‘AM Forward’ initiative will also help to address DoD’s sustainment and readiness challenges head on,” said Lauren Tubesing, director of operations, military programs at GE Additive. “Strengthening U.S. supply chains, by encouraging small and medium sized manufacturers across the United States to adopt metal additive technology, will create a nationwide network of a qualified additive manufacturing supplier.”
In the oil and gas sector, mining multinationalconocophillipsrecently revealed that it’s trialing 3D printing as a way ofovercoming supply chain problems at its Kuparuk oilfieldin Alaska. Specifically, the company is 3D printing performance-optimized versions of old obsolete parts such as the burner plugs found in gas turbines.
Subscribe to the3D Printing Industry newsletterfor the latest news in additive manufacturing. You can also stay connected by following us onTwitter, liking us onFacebook, and tuning into the3D打印行业YouTube频道.
Looking for a career in additive manufacturing? Visit3D Printing Jobsfor a selection of roles in the industry.
Featured image shows a set of cross-shaft arms 3D printed in cobalt-chrome. Photo via GE Additive.
