Engineers oversee laser metal deposition with wire additive manufacturing.
GKN Aerospace has partnered with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in an US$8.4 million program called TITAN-AM to advance and industrialize Laser Metal Deposition with Wire (LMD-W) additive manufacturing technology. The collaboration aims to develop large-scale titanium aerostructure components for next-generation aerospace applications.
The Titanium Industrialisation and Technology Advancement for Near-net Additive Manufacturing (TITAN-AM) program will focus on developing robust titanium material datasets to ensure structural performance and reliability. It also seeks to advance simulation capabilities to optimize structural design and manufacturing outcomes, and create non-destructive inspection (NDI) techniques tailored for additive manufacturing processes.
Executed from GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre in Fort Worth, Texas, the initiative addresses critical areas for structural aerospace applications. GKN Aerospace is already involved in serial production of additively manufactured structures, such as the fan case mount ring for the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine family, used on aircraft like the Airbus A220 and Embraer E195-E2.
David Bond, CTO Airframes for GKN Aerospace, emphasized that TITAN-AM represents a leap forward in additive manufacturing for aerospace structures.
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