Technique to boost aerospace sector

20/08/2010

A manufacturing process which emerged from a research project could boost the aerospace industry in a remarkable way, it has been claimed.
The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC) is one of the partners working on the project called RAPOLAC (Rapid Production of Large Aerospace Components).
The three-year study, funded by the European 6th Framework Aeronautics and Space Programme, concentrates on Shaped Metal Deposition (SMD) - a technique which can be used for prototype production and manufacturing. The manufacturing process requires no tooling and boasts low harm emissions.
SMD can dramatically decrease the time needed to build a large aerospace component, like an engine casing, reducing it from nine months to just a few weeks. The method was originally developed by Rolls-Royce.
Rosemary Gault, RAPOLAC's project manager, said: "SMD was a very promising technology when it came to us, but companies weren't interested because it was very labour intensive and we didn't understand the material properties.
"Thanks to the funding from the EU Framework Programme and the hard work of all our partners, it's now been fully modelled and automated. It's ready to go into wider production, and we're talking to a number of companies from aerospace and other sectors."
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