GE Additive
GE Aviation has purchased five GE Additive Concept Laser M Line systems, with four to be installed at its Additive Technology Center (ATC) in Ohio.
The fifth M Lune machine will be installed at Avio Aero’s Turin site to support the production of parts for the GE Catalyst engine.
GE Aviation has been one of the key contributors to an M Line beta test process which has returned more than 300 design improvements, including additional safety and software features, that will better facilitate serial production applications, according to GE Additive. Among the improvements made to the M Line system are a 54% increase to the build envelope to 500 x 500 x 400 mm and an increased build-to-build and machine-to-machine stability. GE Additive and GE Aviation have also worked together to accelerate the materials parameters for aluminium, cobalt-chrome and nickel alloy 718. Two of GE Aviation’s M Line systems at the ATC will be dedicated to aluminium, with one each of the other two systems dedicated to cobalt chrome nickel alloy 718.
“The time and work we have collectively invested with our GE Additive colleagues to define, shape and then iron out the specification and functionality of the M Line means we now have a scalable solution that can build large components in a high-volume production environment, while meeting our cost entitlement goals,” commented Chris Philp, Site Leader for GE Aviation’s ATC. “At GE Aviation, we are continually developing more additive content for new engines and the size and complexity of the parts increases with every generation of products developed. With the M Line, we get the full capability we need to develop intricate additive geometries on large structural components.”
“Our goal is to realise the aviation additive industry’s first automation ready production environment,” added Benito Trevino, General Manager – additive integrated product team at GE Aviation. “Ince installed, we envisage that our multi-machine approach with the M Line platform at the heart of production will help us reduce our lead and print times by over 50%.”
