New additions beat Paris heat

My overriding impression is that additive manufacturing (AM) is now poised to make its big breakthrough into the aerospace manufacturing sector. Sure, it’s been around for some time now, bubbling away disruptively in the background, but its supply chain – and OEM customers too, are starting to make some really positive noises about it.

For certain components and applications, if you’re not already onboard with AM then you could run the risk of becoming a dinosaur. AM has moved on from making miniature Eiffel towers on that funny little machine in the corner of the R&D department, to fulfilling its massive potential as a worthy alternative to subtractive machining practices.

The latest 5-axis CNC machine tools are all very good at hogging out huge amounts of titanium and aluminium, but what often gets overlooked are the enormous piles of swarf being generated. Like some dirty secret hiding at the back of the shopfloor, the money earned from recycled swarf must be getting ever closer to that of actually making the part in the first place - buy to fly ratios indeed!

And yet more than ever, the bar, billet, plate and tube stockists and distributors were out in force at this year’s Airshow – perhaps even more mindful that the shadow of AM now looms large above them. The clever ones will already be offering AM services that complement their metallic line cards. There, I got through a Paris Airshow-related comment without even mentioning composite materials, doh!

Mike Richardson, editor