Industrial know-how large Hexagon and steel AM specialist Nikon SLM Options have used superior steel AM software program and {hardware} to revamp an Airbus plane gasoline system part, drastically lowering its weight and making a pathway to a discount in carbon dioxide emissions.
The half in query, a Gasoline Air Separator, feeds the Airbus A330’s Auxiliary Energy Unit (APU). The big and sophisticated part removes air from the APU gasoline feed system, permitting it to energy plane techniques when the primary engines are off. At current, the half is fabricated from greater than 30 particular person parts that require guide welding and meeting—a course of that’s each gradual and labor-intensive.
Due to these challenges, Airbus Operations and Nikon SLM Options initiated a analysis case research to optimize the manufacturing and efficiency of the air separator by printing it on a Nikon SLM NXG XII 600 system. (In June of this yr, Nikon SLM started producing the large steel AM system in the US.)
The mix of Hexagon’s software program and Nikon SLM’s additive manufacturing {hardware} enabled the manufacturing of the simplified and optimized AM A330 Gasoline Air Separator prototype.
Key outcomes of the re-design included:
- 75% weight discount from 35kg to lower than 8.8kg
- 30+ particular person parts consolidated to only one
- 68-hour printing time
- Predicted discount of lifetime carbon dioxide emissions of an Airbus 330 plane by 264 tons
Utilizing simulation-driven design software program and different instruments
Hexagon’s Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) workflow was key to maximizing the potential of the NXG XII 600, with three Hexagon instruments particularly used in the course of the course of.
Hexagon MSC Apex Generative Design software program was used to consolidate over 30 particular person parts right into a single light-weight half that met structural and efficiency requirements; Simufact simulation instruments have been used to optimize the printing course of and predict half deformation; and AMSTUDIO construct preparation software program was deployed to generate optimum print information and totally exploit the NXG XII 600 for max accuracy.
A few yr in the past, Hexagon launched its HxGN Additive Manufacturing Suite, comprising the beforehand talked about AMSTUDIO and Simufact together with its DESIGNER and ESPRIT EDGE options. The top-to-end package deal goals to ship “scalability, reliability, and repeatability” to AM customers.
Hexagon, Nikon SLM Options, and Airbus Operations imagine the gasoline air separator analysis undertaking demonstrates the ability of mixing AM with simulation-driven design. Whereas no concrete plan is in place to make use of the re-designed half on business plane, the group says Airbus is “well-positioned to increase these applied sciences in future plane designs.”
