Sciaky Inc., Chicago, delivered a state-of-the-art electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) 110 System to Airbus, France. The renowned aircraft manufacturer will use the industrial-scale metal 3D printing system to produce large structural parts made of titanium.
Sciaky’s EBAM process combines computer-aided design (CAD), additive manufacturing processing principles, and an electron beam heat source. Starting with a 3D model from a CAD program, the fully-articulated, moving electron beam gun deposits metal via wire feedstock, layer-by-layer, until the part reaches near-net shape. From there, the near-net shape part requires heat treatment and post-production machining. In the end, minimal material is wasted.
Quality and control are brought together in one step with IRISS—Interlayer Real-time Imaging and Sensing System. IRISS is the only real-time monitoring and control system in the metal 3D printing market that can sense and digitally self-adjust metal deposition with precision and repeatability. This closed-loop control is the primary reason that this EBAM 3D printing process delivers consistent part geometry, mechanical properties, microstructure, and metal chemistry, from the first part to the last.
EBAM uses wire feedstock, which can accommodate a wide variety of metals and refractory alloys, such as titanium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, Inconel, and stainless steels. The system has a work envelope of 70 in. (1778 mm) x 47 in. (1194 mm) x 63 in. (1600 mm).
“Sciaky is proud to partner with a world-class innovator like Airbus,” says Bob Phillips, VP of marketing for Sciaky. “We all know that metal 3D printing technology is going to revolutionize manufacturing in the aerospace industry, and Sciaky is committed to being at the forefront of this movement.”
As the most widely scalable metal 3D printing solution in the industry in terms of work envelope, Sciaky’s lineup of EBAM systems can produce parts ranging from 8-in. (203 mm) to 19 ft (5.79 m) in length. EBAM is also the fastest deposition process in the metal additive manufacturing market, with gross deposition rates ranging from 7-20 lb (3.18-9.07 kg) of metal per hour.
Image caption — Two Airbus rear upper spars were 3D printed in titanium with Sciaky’s EBAM process. The left image shows the early preform stage while the right image shows the finished part.
