3D Printing

It would depend on the part though and of course the 3D printer itself they aren't all the same. The airframe sounds possible but I'd doubt much could be 3D printed for an engine.

Don't be so sure:

Obviously parts could be made one way or another for old kit. At a given point however one has to ask why. My aviation buff friend made a surprising comment about the recent sea fury crash - there aren't enough people around who know how, or enough spare parts to properly maintain a Bristol Centaurus engine'

And after research he was ( as he mainly is), completely right - there are at best half a dozen or a dozen in the world in working condition. That engine had the misfortune to be a very late WWII design just at the point that jet engines were making nonsense of the applications it could be used in.

Compared with pre war or early war engines like the DH gypsy series or RR Merlin.

The vulcan's jets are completely obsolete, and the cost of maintaining one in airworthy condition is horrendous

Its a highly complex plane - not like a Sopwith Camel!

Yes indeed. More conventionally, 3d printing Inconel

Another Dave

But is this 3D printing as most know it? Or simply using the name for a new manufacturing process?

Steve Walker snipped-for-privacy@walker-family.me.uk> wrote in news:sacsmu$hgv$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Interesting article.

I used 3D printed titanium parts about 15 years ago, I don't know how new it was but that's what they called it.

That would depend upon what the parts are, but, using direct laser sintering, parts can be 3D printed in, among other metals, stainless steel, bronze, aluminium and titanium. It can also be used to create moulds for casting a wide variety of metals.

I don't call welding printing and which is what I meant by what we call 3D printing. It's rather like calling Van goth (or any other painter) a 3D printer because what he painted as layers of paint could be considered a 3D printed image.

Quite. CAD, but not what most would call printing.

They are fusing a layer at a time on. Is it so different from a resin printer creating and fusing a new layer with light? Or even a filament printer fusing a new layer of filament on top?

Besides there are structural and other design criteria that I'd suggest could not be matched using the technology at the moment. Brian

There is one company, that is printing entire rockets using metal 3D printing. They're also printing the rocket engine.

One of the limitations of their 3D printer, is the robot arms have limited reach. Their 3D printer is not exactly a scaled up version of a hobby printer.

Paul

"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in news:sahik9$mu6$1 @dont-email.me:

Exactly Brian. The grain flow in a forging - and most rotating parts were forged - was a major consideration and one reasone why replacement parts cannot be made by a 3rd party and the dies and presses have all gone. (I once used to machine dies for blades)

Only ten years after the Lancaster though. I find that slightly mind-boggling.

Even keeping a Lanc in the air is a challenge...