Renishaw Cobra Aero
Engine manufacturer Cobra Aero is harnessing metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology from Renishaw to optimise the design of aircraft and motorcycle engines.
The Michigan-based company oversees the design, manufacture and testing of around 2,000 engines every year, and has recently integrated Renishaw’s AM 400 system into its workflow.
Working closely with the British engineering firm at one of its American Additive Manufacturing Solutions Centres, Cobra has already taken advantage of the technology’s design capabilities to optimise engine cylinders for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The company says it has managed to consolidate the number of components down to one, while implementing a lattice structure has facilitated an increased airflow. In addition to the performance enhancement of the part, and therefore the entire engine, Cobra has also championed the speed at which they were able to turnaround the re-design.
Indeed, the re-design of this component was only achievable because of the introduction of additive manufacturing, and also because of Cobra Aero’s desire to push the boundaries of the quality of its production output.
“Staying at the cutting edge of manufacturing is important to Cobra Aero,” commented Sean Hilbert, President of the company. “Investing in AM allows us to develop tools and new products for high value, small volume applications, speed up the manufacturing process and produce designs that would not be possible using conventional subtractive machining.”
“By using metal additive manufacturing, Cobra Aero was able to design a part that was unique to the application,” added Stephen Anderson, AM Business Development Manager at Renishaw. “By using our latest powder bed fusion technology, Cobra Aero was able to produce a single part with complex lattice structures that performs better than conventional component manufacturing techniques.”
