![]() Variants of the TF33 power aircraft such as the B-52H Stratofortress, E-3 Sentry and E-8 JSTARS. The mold used to create the part is also known as a hard tool and is generally made from high strength steel. Made from magnesium, the housing was originally produced by casting – pouring molten metal into a mold then milling the part to produce a final product. Such is the case with the rear gearbox housing for a TF33 jet engine. ![]() Even if the part were to be recreated in this method, the part would be subject to lengthy airworthiness testing before it would be allowed to fly. ![]() However, the size and complexity of certain parts do not lend themselves to current 3D-printing methods where the part is built from scratch. Anything that we can do technically to make that possible and then work with our partners on the supply chain side to be able to go buy them is really valuable.”Īdditive manufacturing has been a specialty of Tinker Air Force Base’s Reverse Engineering and Critical Tooling Lab, known as REACT, for a number of years. We have to figure out how to get the parts we need. “We are supporting a significant number of old platforms and we are going to keep supporting them for a long time. “We’re trying to find ways to get the low-quantity parts faster,” said Loren Lutz, Air Force Life Cycle Management propulsion chief engineer. The 448th Supply Chain Management Wing, part of the Air Force Sustainment Center, has a new additive manufacturing approach to solve an old problem, sourcing hard to acquire parts for legacy aircraft.īy digitally recreating the mold used to create cast parts, instead of building the part from scratch, the Strategic Alternate Sourcing Program Office can work with vendors to produce parts faster while saving the Air Force money. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |