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Friday, October 21, 2016 11:05:02 PM
GE builds 3D printing factory in Prague, to 3D print engine parts for next-gen Cessna Denali
GE builds 3D printing factory in Prague, to 3D print engine parts for next-gen Cessna Denali - Oct 21, 2016
But for added appeal, these aircraft will feature a powerful 3D printed propeller engine that is strong enough to fly from Miami to New York. GE was therefore tapped for development, and will be spending $400 million to develop the engine. 3D printing will be their prime weapon, and will help to consolidate 845 parts into just 11 3D printed components. While far more cost-effective, this reduction in complexity will also speed up production, reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent, and make the engine 10 percent more powerful. What’s more, it will also be less heavy than existing engine alternatives.
According to GE Aviation’s turboprop program manager Milan Slapak, these benefits are a logical consequence of 3D printing. “The physics is simple,” he said. “The more metal you have in the air, the more money you need to spend on the material itself and on the fuel to keep it flying. Also, an engine with fewer components reduces the number of parts you need to design, certify, inspect and make or order. 3D printing really is the game changer and it will totally change the way traditional supply chains operate and simplify them massively.”
This revolutionary engine has been under development for the last three years, and individual 3D printed fuel nozzles and other jet engine and gas turbine parts have already been realized. To further support those efforts, this new Prague factory will be completely focused on the 3D printing turboprop engine components, and will employ 500 people. “It will be a different world 10 years from now from the manufacturing perspective,” Slapak says, “and we definitively want to be behind the driving wheel. Additive will enable us to make parts with complex shapes that are currently either impossible to achieve using conventional technologies or are simply too expensive to make.”
GE builds 3D printing factory in Prague, to 3D print engine parts for next-gen Cessna Denali - Oct 21, 2016
But for added appeal, these aircraft will feature a powerful 3D printed propeller engine that is strong enough to fly from Miami to New York. GE was therefore tapped for development, and will be spending $400 million to develop the engine. 3D printing will be their prime weapon, and will help to consolidate 845 parts into just 11 3D printed components. While far more cost-effective, this reduction in complexity will also speed up production, reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent, and make the engine 10 percent more powerful. What’s more, it will also be less heavy than existing engine alternatives.
According to GE Aviation’s turboprop program manager Milan Slapak, these benefits are a logical consequence of 3D printing. “The physics is simple,” he said. “The more metal you have in the air, the more money you need to spend on the material itself and on the fuel to keep it flying. Also, an engine with fewer components reduces the number of parts you need to design, certify, inspect and make or order. 3D printing really is the game changer and it will totally change the way traditional supply chains operate and simplify them massively.”
This revolutionary engine has been under development for the last three years, and individual 3D printed fuel nozzles and other jet engine and gas turbine parts have already been realized. To further support those efforts, this new Prague factory will be completely focused on the 3D printing turboprop engine components, and will employ 500 people. “It will be a different world 10 years from now from the manufacturing perspective,” Slapak says, “and we definitively want to be behind the driving wheel. Additive will enable us to make parts with complex shapes that are currently either impossible to achieve using conventional technologies or are simply too expensive to make.”
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