GE
Avio 3D-printed turbine blades
The revolutionary Avio Aero turbine blades
On a fairly regular basis we receive press releases that detail a sale of a particular machine to a particular company, more often than not these reports are rather unremarkable especially as the industry grows but one coming out of metal 3D printing company Arcam today is remarkable.
The Swedish-based Electron Beam Melting (EBM) manufacturer has announced the salle of not one but 10 machines to the GE Aviation subsidiary, Avio Aero. The substantial investment comes as the Italian aerospace components producer looks to move in series production of its state of the art turbine blades.
"These machines will be vital to move to series production of turbine blades. Arcam is the leading supplier of titanium alloy additive manufacturing systems and we again turned to them with confidence, having used their products for years", says Giacomo Vessia, Plant Leader at Avio Aero.
The turbine blade project was one we reported on way back in August 2014 as Avio Aero announced the breakthrough they had achieved using Arcam's technology. Avio Aero have been using EBM technology for several years as a forerunner of aerospaces adoption of additive technologies, the aerospace vertical is without doubt proving the most lucrative for metal-based 3D printer manufacturers.
"This is the largest single order ever for Arcam EBM systems. The deal confirms the potential of the Arcam EBM technology as a volume production system for the aerospace industry. We truly look forward to supporting Avio Aero in their turbine blade manufacturing”, says Magnus René, CEO of Arcam.
The above information has been made public in accordance with the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was published on December 22, 2015.
