3D manufacturing reaches the great Basque aeronautical series. Deia, Bizkaia News

This technology of additive manufacturing, according to sources of the machine tool sector, allows to make geometric designs much more complex with total freedom in a much simpler way than through traditional machining, reduces the time of access to the market and lowers costs.

In this sense, the Basque company ITP Aero, controlled by the British Rolls & Royce, is already producing the first aeronautical components manufactured internally with additive technology. Specifically the pieces are part of the first turbine that was delivered in June.

Airbus engine According to ITP Aero the company uses additive manufacturing for two different components, on the one hand, the segments of the low pressure turbine of the Trent XWB-84 Rolls-Royce engine for the Airbus A350 aircraft, and the TEC blades (Turbine Exhaust Case) of the TP400 engine that equips the military transport aircraft Airbus A400M.

The Basque aeronautical company that has used its own design criteria estimates that with the new manufacturing technology it can achieve “relevant” cost savings and a reduction of up to 40% of the weight of the components. And this factor is key in the aviation industry because less weight less fuel consumption and therefore less operating costs for airlines that use airplanes with this type of parts.

The first turbine that includes segments in the state of development manufactured by additive manufacturing was delivered in June to Rolls-Royce in Derby (Great Britain) for assembly in the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engine.

As always in the aeronautical industry that has the highest quality standards, the segments will be duly tested, validated and certified with a view to their incorporation into engines in production. The segments are components located between the rotating blades and the turbine housing, and its function is focused on minimizing the flow of air that passes between them.

In series in 2020 According to ITP Aero, the design phase of the TP400's TEC blades is under development, with a view to its validation and standardization in the year 2020. The said part is located at the end of the engine and fulfills a key function being one of the two anchor points to the wing of the plane. The TEC is a module subjected to temperatures of up to 600 degrees that channels the air expelled by the engine. The production with additive technology at the industrial level of this component is estimated to be operational by 2021. The additive manufacturing technology used for these components is the method of laser selective fusion.