AEROSPACE: 3D PRINTING
A Singapore university and additive manufacturing company Stratasys have used aerospace-grade material to 3D print a ready-to-fly drone, complete with embedded electronics
3D printing nowwith integral electronics
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esearchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have 3D printed a ready-to-fly drone with embedded electronics using
aerospace-gradematerial. The electronics were incorporated in the
drone during the 3D printing process which employs Stratasys Ultem9085. This is a production-grade polyetherimide thermoplastic that can be 3D printed and is renowned for a high strength-to-weight ratio and FST (flame, smoke and toxicity) rating,making it ideal for the commercial transport industry, especially aerospace. The drone has been jointly developed by
NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) and Stratasys Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of the 3D printing and additive manufacturing company Stratasys. The drone – a quadcopter with four
rotors – was designed, 3D printed and flown by Phillip Keane, an NTU PhD candidate fromthe School ofMechanical and Aerospace Engineering who researches at the SC3DP. In 3D printing, objects are created
digitally layer by layer until completion. However, embedding electronics can be a challenge, asmost will not survive the high temperatures of the 3D printing process. Commercial grade electronics were
thereforemodified and placed within the drone at various stages of the printing process. They survived the high temperature printing which reached over 160°C, compared to the usual 80 to 100°C. Only themotors and the propellers were mounted after the entire chassis was completed. “One of the toughest challenges was to
find electronic components that could theoretically survive the high temperature printing process,” says Keane. “We had to add some heat-proofingmodifications to the components to ensure they could last. This involved adding new components to the printed circuit boards and also designing customhousings.” The drone was completed in around 14
hours. During the printing, there were just three pauses for the electronics to be placed within the chassis. “The housings, which were pre-printed in Ultem9085, also provide a flat surface for the 3D printer to continue printing over them. I also had to deal with tight time constraints as some of the components could not survive in the heat formore than 20 minutes,” Keane adds. In addition to being extremely rugged,
the drone is capable of supporting over 60kg of weight suspended fromits
structure.Moving forward, Keane is working on the next version of the drone which will feature better durability, lighter weight and improved flight dynamics. EE
42 /// Environmental Engineering /// April 2017
With temperatures reaching 160°C, heat-proofing modifications were required to ensure the embedded electronics would survive, below; and with rotors added the quadcopter is ready to fly, bottom
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