Sigma Labs Inc (SASI)

[Envirosciguy]

My back is all jacked up, so I've been lounging around all day and doing some research on SGLB.

This excerpt is from the following:

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2014/March/pages/3DPrintingPromisestoRevolutionizeDefense,AerospaceIndustries.aspx

I like this: Besides fuel nozzles, General Electric is also looking at printing about a dozen components and using 3D printed parts in its other engines.

General Electric has been funneling millions of dollars into 3D printing technology for years, said Steve Rengers, the lead of General Electric Aviation’s research and development group.

In 2012, the company acquired Morris Technologies and its sister company Rapid Quality Manufacturing in Cincinnati, Ohio. Both companies specialized in additive manufacturing.

Since then, General Electric has been working to incorporate 3D printing into its products, Rengers told National Defense. It turned the Cincinnati facilities into its Additive Development Center, where engineers test out applications for the technology, he said.

“We are the research arm of GE as far as additive goes,” said Rengers.

Additive manufacturing will be a component of General Electric’s forthcoming LEAP engine. The engine — which is being built by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and Snecma, a French aerospace company — will include 19 3D-printed fuel nozzles each, Rengers said.

To make the fuel nozzle without additive manufacturing, multiple parts would have to be separately created and fused together, he said.

“In our case … 20 pieces would have to be made and then joined … to get this complex assembly,” said Rengers. With additive manufacturing, “we are able to do that in one shot on a machine, so it makes things a lot easier. There is a lot less risk involved with that assembly.”

The engines are slated to enter production in 2016 and are being marketed toward the commercial aviation industry.

The pieces are created using a type of 3D printing known as direct metal laser sintering, which uses super metal alloys to manufacture objects layer by layer.

“Because you’re doing something one layer at a time, you can essentially build in elaborate passages into your product,” said Rengers. “It opens up design freedoms. ... You’re able to produce designs and components that you could never do with traditional manufacturing.”

Besides fuel nozzles, General Electric is also looking at printing about a dozen components and using 3D printed parts in its other engines, Rengers said. He would not disclose which parts the company is considering.

Three-D printing is revolutionizing the aerospace industry, Rengers said. “We believe it is a … game changer, and it will allow engines to run more efficiently in the future. … We envision performance benefits, cost savings and fuel savings.”

Today, the 3D printing market is worth $3 billion, Evans said. He predicted it would increase tenfold to $30 billion over the next decade.