Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Stratasys is preparing to unveil a pair of technology demonstrators that it says will represent a generational advance in the use of additive manufacturing and 3D printing in aerospace production. According to the U.S.-Israeli company, the equipment will allow manufacturers to make larger, stronger parts to higher quality standards, overcoming some of the key limitations that have held back the technology’s adoption by airframers and aircraft systems manufacturers.

 


At September’s International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, Stratasys will be showing how its Infinite-Build 3D demonstrator can make large, lightweight thermoplastic parts in a repeatable way. The equipment, which is now being evaluated by Boeing, prints on a vertical plane that allows for a practically unlimited part size to be built.

 


Stratasys also has developed a new robotic composite 3D demonstrator that combines its advanced extrusion technologies with motion control hardware and product lifecycle management software developed by Siemens. This uses an eight-axis motion system that the company says will greatly accelerate production rates and so make it cost effective to produce a greater variety of lightweight, high-value composite structures without labor-intensive processes.

 


“Both of these demonstrators address the typical barriers associated with taking additive manufacturing into production,” Scott Sevcik, Stratasys’s director of manufacturing platform development, told AIN. “Boeing has been involved heavily and has been very influential in defining requirements and how the technology can be used for producing low-volume customized parts.”

 


Initially the Infinite Build demonstrator will be used to produce sample parts and structures, such as customized aircraft interior panels, with Boeing focusing its evaluation on production of low-volume, lightweight parts. “With Infinite Build now building on a vertical plane parts can be measured in feet rather than inches and produced ten times faster than current rates [for 3D printing],” explained Sevcik. “The robotic composite demonstrator will demonstrate a geometry that cannot be produced in any other way—a true multi-axis build.”

 


Stratasys already contributes multiple 3D printed parts for the Airbus A350XWB widebody airliner. In late 2015, it produced and flew <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2015-11-09/stratasys-prints-builds-flies-uav">a UAV that was entirely 3-D printed</a> (apart from its engines, electronics and servos).

 


It remains to be seen how Boeing may opt to integrate the demonstrator technology into its production process. Automaker Ford also is evaluating the new equipment.

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