Aerospace & Defense
Aerospace customers leverage 3D Systems industry-leading production solutions to deliver unprecedented productivity in manufacturing supply and value chains
Advanced flight platforms are placing pressure on aerospace companies to adopt rapid manufacturing technologies that accelerate the supply chain and encourage innovation at every level, including product development, inspection and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul). At the same time, there’s a growing need to lower fuel costs and efficiently replace legacy parts for aging fleets.
Aerospace and defense customers leverage 3D Systems’ industry-leading solutions and expertise to deliver unprecedented manufacturing productivity improvements: increased speed and reliability of quality assurance and validation processes; lowered fuel costs through lightweighting and parts consolidation; increased manufacturing productivity through innovative 3D printed casting patterns, 3D data recovery, injection-mold design, and direct metal printing of airworthy parts.
The Challenge
Optimizing Parts and Assemblies to Revolutionize Space Exploration
Low-cost robotic space exploration requires throwing away the book on many traditional processes, starting with design and manufacturing.
The Solution
Planetary Resources Uses QuickCast to Achieve New Level of Design Freedom
Patented 3D Systems technologies deliver lighter-weight parts, quicker design iterations, and cost savings from consolidating assemblies into one casted part.
The Challenge
Creating One-of-a-Kind Parts for the Mars Exploration Rover
Parts and assemblies for the Rover, some machined from solid titanium, contain complex angles and undercut walls, some with thicknesses as small as 1mm (0.040″).
The Solution
Next Intent Uses GibbsCAM to Meet Tight Requirements
The successful Mars Rover mission underlines Next Intent’s use of GibbsCAM software to keep material as thin as possible without affecting the structural integrity of parts.
The Challenge
Produce Lighter-Weight Brackets for Telecommunications Satellite
Each bracket mounted on the antenna required a unique topologically optimized design for lower weight without sacrificing strength.
The Solution
Thales Alenia and 3D Systems Use DMP for Better Bracket
Direct-metal-printed brackets are 25-percent lighter, have a better stiffness-to-weight ratio, and can be manufactured in half the time it would take with a traditional process.
The Challenge
Reconnecting Design With As-Built for NASA’s Apollo F-1 Rocket Engine
Although some blueprints of the original F-1 engine design exist, the basic drawings that were available revealed a disconnect between the original design and as-built results.
The Solution
ShapeFidelity Uses Geomagic Software to Accurately Reverse Engineer the F-1
An accurate 3D model of the F-1 engine can now be used for analysis, flow path definition, clearances, and re-creation and manufacturing of the original parts using new materials.