Boeing It is a company that if it has been characterized by something in recent months, it is precisely because of its great commitment to such innovative technologies as 3D printing. Thanks to this, it has made large investments in research and development that have allowed it to advance by leaps and bounds, especially in the areas that most interest an aircraft manufacturer such as Boeing, such as manufacture of 3D printed titanium parts.
As it has just announced in its latest press release, it appears that Boeing will begin to use these types of parts created by 3D printing in its 787 Dreamliner airliner thanks to the fact that they have just been approved by the Federal Aviation Authority. As a detail, comment that Boeing estimates that thanks to the use of these printed parts you can save up to $ 3 million in production costs for each aircraft that enters the airlines.
Boeing will drastically reduce its production costs thanks to the use of 3D printing.
As a detail, tell you that these titanium parts manufactured by 3D printing will be produced by the North American company Norsk Titanium thanks to a new manufacturing process baptized with the name of Rapid Plasma Deposition. This company is the only one of several that has managed to manufacture all kinds of parts under the rigorous specifications imposed by Boeing itself.
This process works in a very simple as well as complex way since it is possible to melt titanium wire with inert argon gas with great precision. This process allows transforming the titanium wire into complex components valid for structural and safety critical applications. During the manufacturing process, the company has developed a system capable of monitoring each part some 2.000 times per second to ensure the quality of the final product.