DEFACTO_STELIA_PANEL
Metallic self-reinforced fuselage panel.
STELIA Aerospace, a French manufacturer of aerostructures and aircraft seats, has harnessed Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) technology to produce a demonstrator for metallic self-reinforced fuselage panels.
The company designed and developed the 1 square metre demonstrator in partnership with Constellium, Centrale Nantes and CT Ingenierie, through Project DEFACTO – Development de la Fabrication Additive pour Composant Topologique. It had stiffeners directly manufactured on the surface, unlike traditional manufactures which are typically attached to the fuselage panels with fixing screws or welding, and STELIA believes it has landed on a disruptive new approach.
“With this additive manufacturing demonstrator, STELIA Aerospace aims to provide its customers with innovative designs on very large structural parts derived from new calculation methods, [such as] topological optimisation,” commented Cedric Gautier, CEO of STELIA Aerospace. “Through its R&T department, and thanks to its partners, STELIA Aerospace is therefore preparing the future of aeronautics, with a view to develop technologies that are always more innovative and will directly impact our core business, aerostructures.”
The build of the aluminium structure is enabled by fuselage topological optimisation studies, carried out by STELIA and CT Ingenierie over a number of years. Project DEFACTO was launched in 2014 as part of a new research strategy which would consider the potential for 3D printing to be utilised for the manufacture of demonstrators for elementary parts, like fittings, and large dimensional parts and sub-assemblies. It will run for two and a half years, and is co-financed 50/50 by the French Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) and the partners. Together, they will work to establish new designs, attempt to use less material, reduce weight, and lower manufacturing costs.
Already, with the development of the fuselage panel demonstrator, the research project is bearing fruit, and the implementation of a 3D printing process, albeit one similar to welding, is making an impact. WAAM uses an electric arc as a heat source and wire as feedstock, with motion provided by robotic systems or computer numerical controlled gantries, to build parts up layer by layer. It supports materials such as aluminium, steel, and titanium, and can be utilised to manufacture large structures for demanding applications. STELIA, a company that employs nearly 7,000 employees around the world, is hopeful it will enable greater production freedom of structures, in addition to the weight-saving, cost-saving, and money saving benefits.
