3D printing technology used in Chinese fighter jets
Staff Reporter 2013-05-31 13:11
A large 3D printer at Northwestern Polytechnical University in northwest China's Shaanxi province. (Photo/Xinhua)
China is employing 3D printing technology in the development of its military aircraft, from the J-16 fighter to the next-generation J-31, reports Huanqiu, the Chinese-language website of the nationalistic tabloid Global Times.
At this year's annual legislative and consultative conferences in Beijing this march, J-15 chief architect Sun Cong revealed that 3D printing has been widely used in designing and producing the latest carrier fighter prototype which had its first successful test in October.
The rapidly improving technology, which has allowed the development of Chinese fighter jets to take off, so to speak, has been used to manufacture critical titanium alloy load-bearing structure on the aircraft, including the entire nose landing gear, Sun said.
Plane enthusiasts can already create small plastic planes with a computer and a 3D printer, but the technology could soon be extended to creating a real jet. 3D printers have already been used to create plane parts without the need for casting, forging, assembly or other traditional manufacturing processes.
According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, the C-919, China's first domestically-designed commercial aircraft, the J-15 and J-16 fighter jets, the J-20 stealth fighter and the next-generation J-31 fighter already all employ 3D printing technology.
On March 24, at 16th China Beijing International High-tech Expo, China's AVIC Heavy Machinery Co went away with the state technological invention award for the world's largest 3D printing titanium part for military aircraft.
The laser additive manufacturing technology is said to boast a significant advantage over traditional manufacturing methods. Aeronautical materials expert Wang Huamin says China only needs 55 days to "print out" the main windshield frame of a C-919 commercial jet, compared to at least two years and US$2 million for a European plane manufacturer.
Traditional jet manufacturing not only takes time but also wastes raw materials, with only 10% going into the final product, Wang said. US manufacturer Lockheed Martin requires 2.8 tonnes of titanium to build an F-22 fighter jet, but only 144kg of titanium will end up in the plane itself, he added.
Wang says China's large-scale 3D printing technology has already surpassed the United States, partly because many American companies do not yet take the technology seriously.
