Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing. Layer by Layer. Buildup: GE made the aircraft engine component on the left by using a laser to melt metal in precise places, beginning with the single layer seen on the right. The parts in jet engines have to withstand staggering forces and temperatures, and they have to be as light as possible to save on fuel. That means it’s complex and costly to make them: technicians at General Electric weld together as many as 20 separate pieces of metal to achieve a shape that efficiently mixes fuel and air in a fuel injector.
But for a new engine coming out next year, GE thinks it has a better way to make fuel injectors: by printing them. To do it, a laser traces out the shape of the injector’s cross-section on a bed of cobalt-chrome powder, fusing the powder into solid form to build up the injector one ultrathin layer at a time. These innovations are at the forefront of a radical change in manufacturing technology that is especially appealing in advanced applications like aerospace and cars. David H. 3D printing: The shape of things to come. 3D Printing Will Transform Education. The rise of additive manufacturing | In-depth. 24 May 2010 | By Jon Excell, Stuart Nathan Additive processes mean that complex components can be made in one shot Artfully designed consumer products represent one of the biggest markets for additive processes A380 landing-gear section Additive manufacturing is a world away from the traditional image of manufacturing Factory of the future: Additive layer manufacturing is a world away from traditional processes Complex metal components Today most hearing aid outer casings are manufactured additively Previous thumbnailsNext thumbnails Dream machines: Systems capable of printing functional components are poised to enter the manufacturing mainstream Prof Richard Hague’s desk is littered with a curious smorgasbord of objects: a tiny model jet engine, a diesel-fuel pump housing, a chain-mail vest with a zip down the back, a football shin pad and a tiny skeletal hand.
Able to build models of mind-boggling geometrical complexity from scratch, they dispense with tooling costs. What’s next. ASEE PRISM - NOVEMBER 2011 - FEATURE. Fuel cells are typically made from three materials that have to withstand heat ranging from room temperature to 800° Celsius. But because the materials expand at different rates when heated, degradation and cracking can occur where they meet. To help solve this problem, Denis Cormier, a professor of machining and manufacturing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is developing fuel cells that are produced by 3-D printers, microlayer by microlayer. Instead of having potentially weak seams binding them together, the materials blend into one another.
“You gradually transition the materials,” Cormier explains. It’s an intricate weaving process that can’t be done by conventional manufacturing technologies. Such delicate fabrication is among the breakthroughs that enthusiasts hail as the first stirring of an American industrial revival. If, as Locke contended, manufacturing remains vitally important to U.S. national and economic security, it is in dire need of a reboot. 3-D printer. TOPˆ.