Engineers Fly World's First 'Printed' Aircraft

[Tank]

Engineers Fly World's First 'Printed' Aircraft

ScienceDaily (July 28, 2011) — Engineers at the University of Southampton have designed and flown the world's first 'printed' aircraft, which could revolutionise the economics of aircraft design.

The SULSA (Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft) plane is an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) whose entire structure has been printed, including wings, integral control surfaces and access hatches. It was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine, which fabricates plastic or metal objects, building up the item layer by layer.

No fasteners were used and all equipment was attached using 'snap fit' techniques so that the entire aircraft can be put together without tools in minutes...

3D printing technology has been around for decades but has recently started to get a lot more 'air play' as computer, positioning, laser and CAD technologies have been brought together in ever more sophisticted systems. For small quantity production it has significant advantages as in many cases tooling costs don't exist.

[Tank]

This video about 3D printing shows the basics http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9550469.stm

[Will]

If my ink cartridge costs like $40, and all it can do is color prints in 300 dpi. That plane must have cost $15 trillion.

[Crow]

This video about 3D printing shows the basics http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9550469.stm

Ha, I was going to post that in response.

I have personally used the powder based type of printing when I was in university and have wanted to purchase one ever since even though I don't really have any use for one. My neighbor has a titanium powder based printer that he uses to build engines, however its the size of a small room.

[Tank]

This video about 3D printing shows the basics http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9550469.stm

Ha, I was going to post that in response.

I have personally used the powder based type of printing when I was in university and have wanted to purchase one ever since even though I don't really have any use for one. My neighbor has a titanium powder based printer that he uses to build engines, however its the size of a small room.

My son got to use a titanium printer while he worked at McLaren F1 during 2008. He redesigned and produced some suspension components.

[Crow]

This video about 3D printing shows the basics http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9550469.stm

Ha, I was going to post that in response.

I have personally used the powder based type of printing when I was in university and have wanted to purchase one ever since even though I don't really have any use for one. My neighbor has a titanium powder based printer that he uses to build engines, however its the size of a small room.

My son got to use a titanium printer while he worked at McLaren F1 during 2008. He redesigned and produced some suspension components.

That is seriously cool and the pinnacle of automotive engineering, you must be proud.

The future of production is really exciting to me, the possibilities are endless and will totally revolutionise industry, trade and the global economy with 3D printers being just the tip of the iceberg.

[Tank]

This video about 3D printing shows the basics http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9550469.stm

Ha, I was going to post that in response.

I have personally used the powder based type of printing when I was in university and have wanted to purchase one ever since even though I don't really have any use for one. My neighbor has a titanium powder based printer that he uses to build engines, however its the size of a small room.

My son got to use a titanium printer while he worked at McLaren F1 during 2008. He redesigned and produced some suspension components.

That is seriously cool and the pinnacle of automotive engineering, you must be proud.

Damn right! I could have burst! He did the work over his summer break and if it hadn't been for the credit crunch the odds are he would have a job at McLaren now. As it is he's doing his PhD in 3D ultrasonic fault imaging at Imperial College. He is in California ATM having just been to Boston to present a paper on his research.

The future of production is really exciting to me, the possibilities are endless and will totally revolutionise industry, trade and the global economy with 3D printers being just the tip of the iceberg.

I agree. I started working life as a draughtsman at a company that made tiny plastic supports for PCB components. When I think back to those days and then look at a smart-phone it just boggles the mind how far manufacturing has progressed.