German aerospace supplier Aircraft Philipp Übersee GmbH & CO. KG has expanded its additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities with the purchase of a new metal 3D printing system from GEFERTEC.
The GEFERTEC arc605 is set to be installed at its Übersee premises in Bavaria to broaden its AM abilities. First brought to market in 2017, GEFERTEC’s 3DMP (3D Metal Print) technology uses electric arc welding to build near net shape metal parts layer by layer. Its series of Arc machines can be equipped with an optional milling system to facilitate printing and finishing of parts in a single system. The process uses metal wire and conventional arc welding which are then scanned for quality control and milled. The arc605 in particular features a 5-axis machining system and is capable of building large metallic components up to 0.8 m³ with a maximum mass of 500 kg.
Commenting on this latest addition, Rolf Philipp, founder and owner of Aircraft Philipp Übersee, said: “Developing new aircrafts nowadays requires a radical change in thinking with regards to meeting climate targets and resource-optimised production. Applying this method will lead to radically improved buy-to-fly ratios and will, thus, contribute a great deal to economic and ecologic efficiency in future.”
The Aircraft Philipp Group, which also has subsidiaries in Austria, Israel and India, already leverages powder bed and wire arc additive manufacturing processes to produce metal components for aerospace as part of joint venture agreements with HC Concepts Engineering in Austria and joint aerospace research project “REGULUS” with the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy.
Tobias Röhrich, CEO of GEFERTEC added: “We are delighted that Aircraft Philipp Übersee has set its goal towards manufacturing ever greater structural components in the additive fashion. Exactly here lies the special strength and efficiency of 3DMP, which is why it has developed into the new industry standard.”
Source: tct magazine
