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GKN Part 3 Certification

Another important factor in the cost of AM parts is the regulatory load, says David Eatock, project lead and senior research engineer, powder bed additive manufacturing, Airbus Group Innovations. “The cost of qualification is significant, so doing it on a part-by-part basis is cost-prohibitive for most business cases. It’s important to understand where the process limitations lie, in terms of generic process and material qualifications, so the cost of qualification can be amortised across many parts.”

In other words, Airbus and GKN Aerospace’s long-term goal is to reach the point where they can continue to introduce AM parts into aeroplanes without having to submit tailored test data on each one for certification purposes. “In the initial process, our approach is to improve understanding and generate some confidence and data, doing part-by-part qualification on a limited number. But, ultimately, once we’ve built up that knowledge of the process and have understanding of where the thresholds are, we can move to a more general material qualification process.”

And all of the data accumulated so far backs up that case, that the process is the same despite geometric variation between parts, Dumani states: “We’ve assessed multiple component families, from thin wall structures to thick wall structures to close net-shape parts, and we have looked at the data from all of those and we’re fairly confident that they all belong to one big family.”

- See more at: http://www.machinery.co.uk/machinery-features/airbus-and-gkn-aerospace-have-both-together-and-separately-developed-metal-additive-manufacturing-processes-to-an-advanced-stage-their-sights-are-now-set-on-flight-qualifying-a-part-as-will-dalrymple-reports/110930/#.dpuf