As
reported by the Atlanta
Business Chronicle, a Georgia Tech startup has developed a 3D printing
technology to change the way pricey metal parts, including aircraft engine
turbine blades, are designed and made.
DDM
System Inc.’s new casting method will make developing prototypes much faster, efficient
and inexpensive after they move to mass production.
This
3D printing technology allows DDM Systems to reduce the time it takes to make
first castings of prototype turbine engine components from two years to two to
three months or less. It also eliminates 90 percent of material waste and
reduces manufacturing cost.
3D
printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of making a three-dimensional
solid object of nearly any shape from a digital model. The 3D printing technology
has been used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing with
applications in the fields of architecture, construction, industrial design, engineering,
fashion and much more. It has even been used to make a working kidney.
For
more information about 3D printing, click here.
