how to “print” 16 square meters of aircraft parts in one go?
2024-09-24
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in an oxygen-free closed chamber, four nozzles spray out metal powder, which is instantly melted by a high-temperature laser. under the cnc movement of the nozzle, the metal accumulates and grows layer by layer. it only takes dozens of hours for a large titanium alloy component with a complex shape and an area of 16 square meters to be efficiently formed.
this is a real scene in the workshop of beijing yuding additive manufacturing research institute co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "yuding additive"), the industrialization base of the national engineering laboratory for additive manufacturing of large metal components of beijing university of aeronautics and astronautics. "metal 3d printing technology can complete the rapid production of large and complex key load-bearing structures of major industrial equipment such as aircraft, engines, and gas turbines with only a high-performance computer, a set of high-precision laser heads, and a large metal component additive manufacturing cnc mechanical platform." the relevant person in charge of yuding additive told reporters.
the core of metal laser additive manufacturing technology (commonly known as metal 3d printing technology) is to control the laser scanning layer by layer through computer control, melt the alloy powder or wire material that is transported synchronously, and grow three-dimensional complex components layer by layer, thereby manufacturing high-quality metal parts of various shapes. based on the intelligent control of high-temperature melting and crystallization process of metal 3d printing, there is a new way to solve the problems such as "traditional casting and forging technology is difficult to break through the limitation of processing size" and "large components of metal materials with complex components are difficult to ensure uniform composition and texture".
"take the large titanium alloy load-bearing frame of a large aircraft fuselage as an example. the outer contour area of the largest part is often more than 10 square meters. using traditional metallurgical casting and forging technology, even a super-large forging machine with a pressure of 80,000 tons cannot be directly processed. it can only be divided into multiple small parts and then spliced after processing. metal 3d printing can directly add materials to form, which greatly reduces the number of parts, significantly reduces the weight of the structure, greatly improves the strength, especially the toughness, and reduces material consumption and processing time by 80%." the above person in charge said.
in fact, the emergence of metal 3d printing technology is not only an innovation in manufacturing technology, but also a subversion of traditional manufacturing concepts.
wang huaming, an academician of the chinese academy of engineering, a professor at the beijing university of aeronautics and astronautics, and the director of the national engineering laboratory for additive manufacturing of large metal components, said that by precisely controlling each layer of laser-melted metal powder, metal 3d printing technology has achieved precise control of the material's microstructure and chemical composition. this technology can not only achieve a more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing process in application, but also overcome the problem of difficult uniform distribution of components during traditional smelting of new alloys by directly melting the powder. this not only ensures that large metal components have fine grains, dense organization, and uniform composition, and their performance is qualitatively improved, but also uses the extremely high temperature and crystallization conditions during the laser melting process to develop new metal structure materials with completely new chemical compositions.
"if traditional metallurgy is a pot of mixed and uneven ingredients, then 3d printing is like an 'ultra-high-speed fine refiner' that can obtain a 'homogeneous slurry' with completely uniform ingredients and a very dense texture. 3d printing is expected to bring new breakthroughs in the preparation of metal materials that are gradually facing process limits but have increasingly higher performance requirements," said wang huaming.
the successful application of metal 3d printing technology has not only enhanced my country's independent innovation capabilities in the field of high-end manufacturing, but also demonstrated my country's strength in the research and development of new materials and new processes.
"through the close integration of industry, academia and research and long-term efforts, my country has taken the lead in the world in breaking through core key technologies such as metal 3d printing and engineering application of high-performance large-scale key components of major aerospace equipment. more importantly, 3d printing has opened up new ways for the efficient, green and low-cost production and manufacturing of new materials for metal structures of major equipment and high-performance large-scale components, and is a truly new quality productivity." said wang huaming.
looking ahead, 3d printing technology still has more room for growth. according to the "2024 china 3d printing industry panorama" released by the forward industry research institute, with the further expansion of the application scale of 3d printing products in existing scenarios and the continuous development of new scenarios and new applications, it is expected that the scale of china's 3d printing industry will continue to grow rapidly in the next six years. it is estimated that the market size of china's 3d printing equipment will exceed 120 billion yuan in 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of about 19.5% from 2024 to 2029.
"it is no coincidence that china is leading in the field of 3d printing technology." dong chuan, deputy general manager and chief investment officer of sdic chuanghe fund management co., ltd., said when talking about the investment background of the 3d printing track and yuding additive that it is china's deep manufacturing foundation that provides ample room for the application iteration of 3d printing, and the new technology has been successfully transferred from the laboratory to the industry. this technology can not only improve the manufacturing efficiency and performance of products, but also promote the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, and provide strong support for the country's high-end equipment manufacturing industry. (reporter yuan xiaokang)
source: economic information daily
