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3D printing and 3D scanning technologies are gaining increasing attention from manufacturers, but have not yet been widely used in aircraft manufacturing. The development of a new working model was undertaken by a consortium of ten European companies and research institutions that launched the joint Bionic Aircraft project.
The aircraft manufacturing industry is directly represented by Airbus, but CENIT, an IT company engaged in the development of universal software for the automated design of bionic structures with an emphasis on the use of additive technologies, will have to fulfill one of the main tasks.
“One of the main reasons why additive manufacturing has not yet had a big impact on the aircraft industry is the complexity of the design process. Since the design is not yet automated, the process requires the use of a whole set of different software packages. In addition, specialized software is needed to process data before 3D printing. Thus, at the design stage, engineers have to constantly switch from one tool to another. All this requires additional time and increases the cost of work. CENIT is working to simplify the process. To do this, we integrate all stages of design, data processing and 3D printing into a single set of tools for bionic design, ”explains Michael Schwartz, Manager of Aerospace Innovation at CENIT.
If additive manufacturing can be made practical and economical enough, the Bionic Aircraft project can become the new standard in the aircraft industry. The main result of the three-year program should be a significant reduction in harmful emissions by reducing the mass of aircraft and increasing cargo capacity. Separate stages of the program include the development of standards and technologies to ensure the safety of 3D-printed products, repair, logistics, recycling, etc. In the short term, project participants intend to reduce the weight of airliners using 3D-printed components by about one ton - a fairly modest figure. The introduction of the principles of bionics will reduce the mass of individual parts by about 40% when using titanium and 50% when using high-strength aluminum alloys, which will allow for more impressive weight savings.
