Leading European aerospace engineering service providerHyde Aero Products（HAP）呼吁全球工程公司的专业知识Renishawand theNational Centre for Additive Manufacturing（NCAM），位于制造技术中心（MTC）在英国，为其客户提供的两架II级直升机开发3D打印的门把手Leonardo Helicoptersas part of a test case for metal additive manufacturing.
Having recently established a subsidiary dedicated to 3D printing,Hyde Additive Technologies, HAP has begun investing in polymer 3D printing technologies which have already provided cost savings to the company. Now, the firm is looking to harness the benefits of metal additive manufacturing, too.
HAP技术总监Paul Mellor说：“戏剧节目是在Hyde的最佳时机出现的。“在直升机门把手上的工作使我们对制造过程的AM设计有了深刻的了解，并将告知我们未来与莱昂纳多的讨论。”
The DRAMA program
申请者开始的戏剧（航空航天的数字可重新配置增材制造设施）在201雷电竞充值7年项目，目的是使用独特additive manufacturing digital learning factory。
The project involved creating a digitally-twinned virtual environment for the aerospace sector’s additive manufacturing process chain in order to minimize the risk, cost and time to market for companies seeking to utilize the technology to design and build high-performance parts.
Testbed facilities are located at the MTC’s NCAM in Coventry and at Renishaw’s AM Solutions Centre in Staffordshire, with the project receiving an initial £14.3 million as part of a program from the UK’s航天Technology Institute(ATI).
Since then, the project has seen the building of a new open-access metal powder bed facility at NCAM and provided support for supply chain companies to aid their additive manufacturing product and process development. An online resource library called theKnowledge Hubwas also established as part of the project.
3D打印直升机组件
In line with its wish to move into metal additive manufacturing, HAP identified two Class II helicopter parts from its customer Leonardo Helicopters as test cases for the technology. The parts in question were the Forward and Aft Service Door Handles of the helicopter and were chosen as part of a weight reduction initiative.
Upon partnering with the NCAM and Renishaw, HAP wanted to find out whether metal 3D printing could provide a viable and cost-effective solution for the manufacture of the handles, and how to develop a business case for adopting metal additive manufacturing technologies going forwards.
The three companies agreed a process development support package to be delivered by NCAM and engineers from Renishaw, starting with a process design and topology optimization study. A baseline stress analysis was carried out on a current machined-from-solid AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy handle in order to evaluate the performance of handles featuring a variety of internal lattice structures. A hollow handle was also evaluated, and the tests indicated weight savings of between 20 and 45 percent could be achieved with metal 3D printing.
该零件的第一个版本是在Renishaw的激光粉床融合（LPBF）AM500Q 3D打印机上进行的。打印了一系列垂直印刷的前进和船尾服务手柄，并打印了带有空心的和晶格结构的手柄，然后是第二次使用16个前进服务手柄，带有空心间隔，以表明生产组件的生产制造成本。
Analysis of the printed parts via CMM measurement revealed a critical dimension on the handle regarding the distance between the mounting hole center, and it was concluded that building the parts vertically would not provide sufficient accuracy during printing. To address this, the next two builds were printed horizontally and this was agreed to be the optimum orientation for maintaining the positional accuracy of the mounting holes.
Printing the handles horizontally required some internal support, with the first build using a conventional internal structural lattice, and the second a lightweight lattice giving support only.
As part of the final DRAMA Business Case support package, NCAM engineers worked with HAP to develop a business case model for the helicopter handles that could also be applied to other metal 3D printed parts, to support the company’s new venture into metal additive manufacturing.
Advancing the UK’s aerospace sector
在过去的几年中，已经启动了多个3D打印研究计划和协作项目，以进一步推进英国航空航天行业。雷尼沙（Renishaw）处于这一任务的最前沿，最近获得了2600万英镑的资金来领导一个项目to revolutionize aerospace manufacturing in the UK.
Named LAMDA, the project will see Renishaw develop a metal 3D printer capable of mass-producing smaller aircraft components to speed up and improve cost-efficiencies within aerospace production lines.
In 2018,Innovate UKgranted £6 million to a national aerospace additive manufacturing project led by independent research and technology organizationThe Welding Institute(TWI). The开放体系结构添加剂制造（OAAM）项雷电竞充值目sought to provide the UK aerospace sector with large-scale metal 3D printed components, and involved global aerospace giant空中客车,Autodesk, Scottish engineering and manufacturing specialist theGlenalmond Group, theUniversity of Bath,University of Manchester,University of Strathclyde，工程咨询公司isotek石油和天然气。
Elsewhere, global engineering firmGKN Aerospace以前曾承担过several additive manufacturing research programs在航空领域，在ATI，Autodesk之类的支持下，西门子数字工业， And the谢菲尔德大学。同时，Intellegens， AUniversity of CambridgeAI拆卸，宣布将领导一个重点推进的研发项目航空航天组件的3D打印, working with aerospace manufacturer波音以及谢菲尔德大学的AMRC。
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特色图片显示第三个构建显示了四个3D打印的水平服务手柄。通过NCAM照片。
