The Royal Air Force is experimenting with additive manufacturing to provide a capability to produce urgently needed aerospace parts.
The service’s Project Warhol, funded through its Rapid Capabilities Office and the UK Defense Innovation Fund, is a four-strong team researching additive manufacturing materials and technologies.
As the air force looks to the future, officials believe that the technology could be critical to reducing reliance on contested logistics systems and boosting availability of platforms when deployed overseas.
The team had hoped to fly its first in-house-produced part – a blanking plate to fly on in-service Airbus Puma helicopter prior to the Royal International Air Tattoo – but the component is undergoing a clearance process with military airworthiness authorities and is expected to fly shortly.
Having an additive manufacturing capability on the RAF’s bases would build on the capacity already provided by station workshops which already perform precision metalwork.
“This is not about producing main spars for combat aircraft, but creating components we can then ship to support forward assets,” said Chief Technician Mike Matthias, speaking to Show News at the event.
After an initial experimentation period using polymers, the Warhol team is developing its capability with an electron-beam melting system for titanium, and a laser powder bed system for aluminum parts.
Recognizing challenges around certification and intellectual property around producing alternative parts to those supplied by OEMs, one view is that future iterations of Warhol may be able to pay for the digital design files from the manufacturer to produce the part when it is required.
“With this additive manufacturing technology evolving so fast…we need to make the investments now in order to be ready for the future,” said Matthias.
The Warhol team have been tasked to assess the additive manufacturing technology by March 2024 ahead of a potential extension to the project, while a final assessment is due to be delivered by March 2025 ahead of a potential decision to bring capability into the RAF’s core budget.
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