InvestorsHub Logo
Followers 9
Posts 1597
Boards Moderated 1
Alias Born 01/27/2014

Re: None

Tuesday, 02/14/2017 2:14:29 AM

Tuesday, February 14, 2017 2:14:29 AM

Post# of 6624
GE Aviation is Using Additive Manufacturing to Change How Aircraft Engines are Manufactured

The article says, "The plant in Cameri is special, because it uses twenty Arcam-developed AM machines, which fuse together layers of titanium aluminide (TiAI) using an electron gun to accelerate an electron beam." I don't remember what the last machine count was there but I'm pretty sure it was less than 20. I'll check on it.

GE Aviation is Using Additive Manufacturing to Change How Aircraft Engines are Manufactured - Feb. 13, 2017

The introduction and excerpts:

While the tiny town of Cameri may not look like one of the most beautiful cities and villages to dot the Italian landscape (even a local business owner said it was not the prettiest), some would beg to differ. Three years ago, Avio Aero, which designs, manufactures, and maintains systems and components for both civil and military aviation, opened the most advanced additive manufacturing factory in Europe on the edge of town, and since then, they have received a steady flow of visitors: not tourists, but engineers, executives, and additive manufacturing professionals. Not long after the company opened the factory, they were acquired by GE Aviation, which is using the technology on-site to change how aircraft engines are manufactured.

On a recent visit to the Cameri factory, David Joyce, president and CEO of GE Aviation, said, “This factory has helped us understand what the art of the possible is with additive manufacturing. This is the cutting edge.”

GE is focusing efforts on driving AM, after a disappointing Q4 2016. This certainly seems to be a smart approach; Dario Mantegazza, an Avio Aero manufacturing engineer, said it best, when he described 3D printing as having “no limits to complexity.” GE Aviation has facilities in Germany and Sweden, where they acquired majority stakes in Arcam and in Concept Laser last year. The company has a factory in Auburn, Alabama, and also owns AM pioneer Morris Technologies, located in southwest Ohio. But Joyce says the little Italian town of Cameri, and Avio Aero, are an important part of GE’s overall AM business strategy and will be “at the center of the growth of our additive ecosystem.”


Arcam machines at Avio Aero’s additive manufacturing factory in Cameri.

The plant in Cameri is special, because it uses twenty Arcam-developed AM machines, which fuse together layers of titanium aluminide (TiAI) using an electron gun to accelerate an electron beam. TiAI is 50% lighter than nickel-based alloys, and is being used in the Cameri plant to 3D print blades for the GE9X jet engine’s low-pressure turbine.

The engineers are able to additively manufacture blades that are four times thicker than ones created with a laser-powered 3D printer, which is good, considering the GE9X is the largest jet engine ever built; the diameter of the turbine itself is over 80 inches.

This electron beam technique is so fast it’s even competing with casting, which is the standard way to manufacture TiAI parts. The team is also able to use the same machine to change the part shape and print different blades at the same time.

Mantegazza says, “You have the ultimate manufacturing freedom.”



The plant in Cameri.




Avio Aero for the GE9X engine_Farnborough 2016 #ENGINEOFINNOVATION - Uploaded on Jun 17, 2016

GE9x is one of the most exciting challenges for Avio Aero. Among components we will provide to the program, we have the responsibility of the largest low pressure turbine for aircraft engines ever made, with a diameter of over 80 inches and, for the first time, additive manufactured blades into its stages. You will fall in love with it at first sight. Watch the video.






Join the InvestorsHub Community

Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.