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3D printing technologies are poised to transform manufacturing throughout the A&D sector, but first A&D companies must overcome certain size, material, and scalability limitations.

In the future, giant 3D printers deployed by aerospace and defense (A&D) manufacturers may “print” the wings of commercial aircraft under construction. On the battlefield, similar devices will likely create replacement parts on demand for damaged equipment.

Additive manufacturing (AM), as 3D printing is more formally known, is nothing new in the A&D industry. In 1988, some A&D companies began experimenting with early versions of the technology.¹ Adoption of AM has since increased across many industries, with the A&D sector contributing about 12 percent of AM’s $3.1 billion global revenues in 2013.²

The A&D industry is now poised to substantially expand its use of AM, assuming innovators can find ways to overcome some of the technology’s current limitations.

Challenges and Solutions

AM’s ability to manage small volumes, create complex designs, and fabricate lightweight but strong structures makes it a natural fit for the A&D industry. In its current state, however, the technology also has some drawbacks that limit its usefulness to A&D manufacturers: the size of aircraft parts it can build, high material costs, a narrow range of printing materials, limited multi-material printing capabilities, inspection and recertification challenges, and inconsistent quality.

According to industry experts, ongoing advances in AM technology and materials science are helping A&D innovators address these challenges, which will likely enable wider adoption of AM throughout the sector. Currently, progress is being made in the following areas:

Increasing component size. AM underperforms traditional manufacturing methods for producing large A&D components like wings or fuselages.³ Some companies are focusing their R&D efforts on addressing these size limitations. For example, Lockheed Martin is working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on a big-area additive manufacturing (BAAM) system in which multiple deposition heads—the nozzles that “deposit” or spray liquid binding material in layers to build a part—work in coordination to build large parts in an open environment.4

Overcoming scalability limitations. A&D companies that use traditional manufacturing and sourcing methods must maintain large and costly inventories of materials and supplies in case they need to ramp up production quickly to meet a spike in demand. AM currently offers no viable alternative because its build speeds are typically too slow. However, AM providers are working to improve the build speeds of existing AM systems to better support the industry’s bulk production needs. For example, one Swedish technology company recently completed initial research on a project aimed at increasing AM build speeds by a factor of five. 5

Inventing more (and cheaper) materials. AM predominantly uses a narrow range of polymers and metal powder to manufacture A&D parts, and the costs of these materials are much higher than those of materials used in traditional manufacturing methods. In 2013, AM thermoplastics cost about $200 per kilogram, while those used in injection molding cost only $2.6 Similarly, the stainless steel used in AM costs about $8 per square centimeter, which is more than 100 times the cost of commercial-grade stainless steel used in traditional manufacturing methods.7 Over the next few years, advances in materials science are likely to expand the choices of AM materials and bring down their costs.

Expanding multimaterial printing capabilities. AM systems that can print with multiple materials simultaneously offer huge design flexibility. Currently, only a few such systems are available.8 Advances in multimaterial printing capabilities will help designers make a part using different materials with varying properties. For example, one section of an aerospace part can be built from a material with flame retardant properties, while other sections can be made of an extremely lightweight material.9

Improving quality. The high levels of heat involved in AM processes sometimes cause quality consistency issues, especially in the production of dense metal parts. Consistency can be enhanced, however, by embedding controls within 3D printing machines to help deliver dimensional accuracy in the parts being crafted. Additionally, automated inspections of manufactured parts can help identify consistency issues so that they can be addressed.

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Even with these limitations, AM’s fundamental capabilities speak to the core of the A&D industry’s objectives and concerns. The technology enables design complexities that are hard to match with traditional manufacturing techniques. AM also helps reduce weight, leading to improved fuel efficiency. The technology can manufacture highly complex parts as single-component systems. With these and other inherent attributes, AM is a natural fit for many A&D applications. There is little doubt that its penetration into the A&D value chain will grow.

—This article was adapted from 3D Opportunity in Aerospace and Defense, by John Coykendall, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Consumer & Industrial Products practice; Mark Cotteleer, research director, Deloitte Services LP; and Louis Librandi, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP.