Analysis of the 4 major development advantages of 3D printing in the aerospace field, and there are these 4 gaps in my country

As a typical representative technology in the manufacturing field of the third industrial revolution, the development of 3D Printing has always attracted wide attention from all walks of life. High-performance metal additive manufacturing technology (metal 3D printing technology) is regarded by experts in the industry as a difficult and high-standard development branch in the field of 3D printing, and it has a pivotal position in industrial manufacturing. Nowadays, industrial manufacturing companies all over the world are vigorously researching and developing metal additive manufacturing technology, especially aerospace manufacturing companies, and they are not hesitating to spend a lot of financial and material resources to increase research and development to ensure their technological leadership.

Development advantages of 3D printing in the aerospace field

• 1. Shorten the development cycle of new aerospace equipment. Aerospace technology is a symbol of national defense strength, and competition among countries is extremely fierce. Therefore, all countries are trying to develop newer weapons at a faster rate to ensure that they are invincible in the field of national defense. The metal 3D printing technology greatly shortens the manufacturing process of high-performance metal parts, eliminating the need to develop molds used in the part manufacturing process, greatly shortening the product development and manufacturing cycle.
• 2. Improve material utilization and reduce costs. In the field of aerospace manufacturing, strategic materials that are expensive and difficult to process are mostly used, such as titanium alloys, nickel-based superalloys and other metal materials. Traditional manufacturing methods have low material usage, complicated machining procedures, long production cycles and high costs. 3D printing technology can generally increase the utilization rate of materials to 60% or even more than 90%, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and saving raw materials.
• 3. Optimize the structure of parts and increase the service life. For aerospace and weaponry, reducing weight is an eternal theme. The Boeing 737 weighs about 65 metric tons. If the weight is reduced by 1 pound (about 0.45 kg), it can save airlines hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. According to GE Aviation’s white paper, extending this figure to all aircraft worldwide and its savings will exceed 10 million U.S. dollars. Traditional manufacturing methods have maximized the weight reduction of parts, but the application of 3D printing technology can optimize the structure of complex parts and transform complex structures into simple structures under the premise of ensuring performance, thereby reducing weight. 3D printing technology optimizes the structure of the parts to make the stress of the parts show the most reasonable distribution, reduce the risk of fatigue cracks, and increase the service life. 4. Repair parts and reduce losses. At present, metal 3D printing technology shows more potential in repair molding than in manufacturing.

Take high-performance integral turbine blade parts as an example. When a blade is damaged, the entire turbine blade will be scrapped, and the direct economic loss will be as high as one million yuan. The use of 3D printing technology to perform laser three-dimensional molding on the damaged part can restore the shape of the part, and the performance meets the use requirements, even higher than the use performance of the substrate. Analysis of my country’s Development Gap At present, my country attaches great importance to the application of 3D printing in the aerospace field from the government, scientific research, and enterprise levels, and has also made some achievements. However, compared with foreign developed countries, the current domestic industry development mainly has the following problems: 1. Technology gaps Technical gaps, such as the structure-performance integrated manufacturing technology of complex thin-walled precision parts, and the forming technology of complex precision parts such as aerospace engine blades and turbines, have restricted the improvement of the technical level of aerospace equipment to a certain extent. At present, domestic 3D printing companies generally lack core technology, low production efficiency, and lack of material types, so it is difficult to realize industrialization. my country’s 3D printing is the most advanced in the field of military applications, such as the forming of some complex alloy parts, but the industrialization process is slow. 2. Material gap The material gap is mainly reflected in the incomplete types of domestic materials and uneven quality.

There is a certain gap between the quality of 3D printing metal powder and foreign countries. The types of polymer materials (PEEK and PAEK, etc.) and ceramic materials are missing, and the system is incomplete. At present, most domestic manufacturers can produce metal particles of tens of microns to hundreds of microns, but the quality of such particles is still far behind that of foreign countries. In the “Made in China 2025” strategic plan, cutting-edge materials include 3D printing materials, and the research direction is mainly focused on metal spherical powder forming and preparation technology; breakthrough high-speed rotating electrode powder and gas atomized powder milling equipment; development of hollow powder High-quality titanium alloy, high-temperature alloy, aluminum alloy and other metal powders with low rate, regular particle shape, uniform particle size, and low impurity content; research alumina, zirconia, silicon carbide and other ceramic powder and sheet preparation methods; establish biological 3D printing System; development of “3D printing friendly” bio-ink. 3. Equipment gap At present, the prices of foreign 3D printing equipment, whether desktop or industrial grade, are relatively high; although some domestic equipment is low in price, the quality is difficult to guarantee. At the same time, the accuracy of equipment and production efficiency need to be further optimized, which is also the main problem hindering industrialization. Although there are some companies in my country that can independently manufacture 3D printing equipment, the scale of the companies is generally small and the R&D capabilities are insufficient. There are major defects in the process stability, the generation and processing of workpiece support materials, and the preparation technology of some special materials, and it is difficult to fully meet the needs of product manufacturing. American companies such as 3Dsystems and Stratasys, which occupy a leading position in the 3D printing industry, invest tens of millions of dollars in research and development of new technologies each year, and R&D investment accounts for about 10% of sales revenue. The two companies not only research and develop equipment, materials and software, but also obtain a large number of relevant subdivision technologies and patents from outside the company through contract development, direct purchase, etc., and master a large number of key core technologies. In addition, the core of 3D printing is digital drive. At present, the digital level of 3D printing in my country is not high, and the software is highly dependent on foreign countries. In the future development, attention should be paid to the software design, numerical control capabilities and other soft power related to the 3D printing process. 4. The macro gap 3D printing industry upstream includes material technology, control technology, opto-electromechanical technology, and software technology.

The midstream is a 3D printing solution based on the digital platform of information technology, and the downstream involves defense science, industry, aerospace and other industries. Its development It will profoundly affect the advanced manufacturing industry, industrial design industry, productive service industry, cultural and creative industry, e-commerce industry and manufacturing information engineering. Due to the high technical threshold of the 3D printing industry, the core technologies used in the upstream, midstream, and downstream involve multiple disciplines and fields such as materials science, computer science, and mechanical design, which belong to a field with strong technical comprehensiveness. It requires the cooperation of my country’s scientific research, enterprises and other parties to improve my country Comprehensive strength of 3D printing. At the same time, in the transformation and upgrading of my country’s manufacturing industry, 3D printing has gradually replaced many traditional processes, and its role has gradually increased. The gap caused by it will also be enlarged in terms of the performance and price of downstream end application products. “3D Printing World”-Professional Readings for China’s 3D Printing Industry ( The upstream of the 3D printing industry includes material technology, control technology, opto-electromechanical technology, and software technology. The midstream is a 3D printing solution based on the digital platform of information technology, and the downstream involves industries such as national defense science, industry and aerospace.

Its development will be profound. Affect the advanced manufacturing industry, industrial design industry, productive service industry, cultural and creative industry, e-commerce industry and manufacturing information engineering. Due to the high technical threshold of the 3D printing industry, the core technologies used in the upstream, midstream, and downstream involve multiple disciplines and fields such as materials science, computer science, and mechanical design, which belong to a field with strong technical comprehensiveness. It requires the cooperation of my country’s scientific research, enterprises and other parties to improve my country Comprehensive strength of 3D printing. At the same time, in the transformation and upgrading of my country’s manufacturing industry, 3D printing has gradually replaced many traditional processes, and its role has gradually increased. The gap caused by it will also be enlarged in terms of the performance and price of downstream end application products. “3D Printing World”-Professional Readings for China’s 3D Printing Industry ( The upstream of the 3D printing industry includes material technology, control technology, opto-electromechanical technology, and software technology. The midstream is a 3D printing solution based on the digital platform of information technology, and the downstream involves industries such as national defense science, industry and aerospace. Its development will be profound. Affect the advanced manufacturing industry, industrial design industry, productive service industry, cultural and creative industry, e-commerce industry and manufacturing information engineering. Due to the high technical threshold of the 3D printing industry, the core technologies used in the upstream, midstream, and downstream involve multiple disciplines and fields such as materials science, computer science, and mechanical design, which belong to a field with strong technical comprehensiveness. It requires the cooperation of my country’s scientific research, enterprises and other parties to improve my country Comprehensive strength of 3D printing. At the same time, in the transformation and upgrading of my country’s manufacturing industry, 3D printing has gradually replaced many traditional processes, and its role has gradually increased. The gap caused by it will also be enlarged in terms of the performance and price of downstream end application products.