3-D Printing

In the past few years, 3-D printing has become so cheap that many hobbyists have taken it up as a means of making small objects, parts or even game pieces. But the technology's massive potential truly came to light recently with the successful test flight of the world's first printed aircraft.

The man behind the design and construction of the Laser Sintered Airplane, otherwise known as SULSA, is Jim Scanlon from Southampton University in southern England. The aircraft is a white, sleek-looking drone made from nylon plastic, with a wingspan of two meters.

At first glance it doesn't appear to be anything special, but a closer look reveals that there are no rivets or bonded sections. And that makes it very special indeed.

"If you look inside the fuselage for example, you've got two helixes winding their way through the internal structure to provide structural support for the skin," Scanlon told Deutsche Welle.

He says manufacturing "lots of complex little interconnecting shapes would traditionally be a nightmare", but that it is made easy by laser sintering. The manufacturing process is officially known as Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM), or more commonly, 3-D printing. And it is changing the way we make things.

Less factory floor, more laboratory

3Trpd in southeast England is the UK's leading ALM company, and it's where the Southampton plane was built. The main production area sounds and looks more like a laboratory than a factory floor.

Tall, box-like machines attached to computer monitors whirr away to themselves while they do their thing. Inside each machine is a block of nylon powder, which as Ian Halliday, CEO of 3Trpd explains, is heated to just below its melting point.

"The platform then drops down, a new layer of powder goes down on the surface of that, that's heated up, laser melts the next layer, and so on and so on," Halliday continued. "Each melted layer of powder bonds to the layer below, so that you end up with a solid part, which is comprised of a load of layers, a bit like a pack of cards that have been cut out in a series of templates."

The process is similar to that of a desktop printer, where the head passes over each line to print letters and words.

3-D printing, however, does not deal in letters and words, but in objects – including those with moving parts.

Making metal out of powder

The company also has machines that use metal powder, a technique which has been much slower to develop.

"The metals process has only really come to prominence in the last two or three years," Halliday said.

The aerospace industry, which places great emphasis on high strength and low weight, is particularly interested in using metal ALM parts. Claudio Dalle Donne, head of research in metal ALM for European aerospace giant EADS, hopes it won't be long before they can start using printed metal parts for their aircraft.

"I think that if in three years or so we are getting closer, in two to three years, this would be something I would be happy with."

Looking ahead

So does this revolutionary new technology sound the death knell for the traditional manufacturer? Not quite yet. Not least because ALM parts can only be as big as the machines they are made in, with maximum dimensions of around 70 centimeters (27.56 inches) for plastic, and 32 centimeters for metal.

That said Europe is well placed to take advantage of the business opportunities inherent in additive manufacturing. The world's leading ALM machine maker is German, and there is expertise in France and the UK. But for design professor Jim Scanlon, the opportunity ALM really presents is the unleashing of his imagination.

"It's the holy grail for product designers, because it allows you to have complete and utter freedom."

Scanlon's aircraft goes on display for the first time in September, and is guaranteed to pull a large crowd. Making planes might not be something anyone can do, but with plastic ALM machines already available to the public at a cost of just 500 euros ($700), there are certainly a multitude of design and invention opportunities out there just waiting to be explored.

Reporter: Robin Powell / tkw
Editor: Zulfikar Abbany