LIGHTWEIGHTING
ADDITIVE FOR AEROSPACE
Making lightweight additive manufacturing work for heavily regulated aerospace applications
T
he aerospace industry demands quality at every stage - underpinned by stringent requirements for
precision, safety, and reliability. With passenger traffic doubling and pressure to reduce ecological impact on the planet greater than ever, manufacturers in the space and aerospace industry must meet the demands of 21st century aviation, with particular emphasis on creating lightweight parts. There are no short cuts, however, and manufacturers are constantly exploring new ways of designing and building more aircrafts which are lighter, in a faster timeframe, whilst achieving heavily regulated certification before any aircraft can take flight. The requirement for lightweight
parts drives the need to manufacture components for aircraft differently – for example, employing advanced composites or new processes such
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Generative design can act as a ‘co-pilot’ to rapidly design lightweight parts
address design certification hurdles with homegrown workflows, but this is not a small undertaking and can involve a significant amount of time – sometimes months – and that is without having to address any mistakes on the way. Navigating through aerospace standards to determine which test is required to achieve certification is a laborious, time-consuming exercise. As advances in engineering and production technologies make it increasingly easy to innovate, the need to streamline certification activities is a given.
Mathieu Perennou, Additive Manufacturing Solutions Director at Hexagon
as additive manufacturing (AM). However, any new design brings new challenges for certification and aerospace manufacturers often
CHALLENGES OF AM In responding to the challenges, aerospace manufacturers are increasingly using AM to make lightweight parts from different materials, including advanced composites, that could not be produced using traditional processes. Utilising AM minimises the use of materials, so there is less waste and reduces energy consumption as part of the manufacturing process. Leveraging AM to design a
lightweight part requires a generative design approach that enables engineers to completely rethink existing structures without feeling constrained
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