Development Bionic Aircraft · Bionic Aircraft Increasing resource efficiency of aviation through...

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Development

Consulting

Education

Research

Bionic AircraftIncreasing resource efficiency of aviation

through implementation of ALM technology and

bionic design in all stages of an aircraft life cycle

Dr. Philipp Imgrund

Fraunhofer IAPT, Hamburg, Germany

The BionicAircraft project has received funding from the European Union’s

Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant

Agreement No 690689

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Overall Ambition

Increasing efficiency of an aircraft by implementing Additive Manufacturing

and bionic design in all stages of an aircraft life cycle:

During manufacturing:due to resource efficient production by Additive

Manufacturing technology

During operation:by significant weight saving to advanced materials

and bionic lightweight design

In maintenance, overhaul and repair:due to innovative repair methods for AM

components

In recycling:by development of recycling methods for

AM powders and components

Resource Efficiency in Bionic Aircraft

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BionicAircraft at a Glance

Bionic Aircraft Project: “Increasing resource efficiency of aviation through implementation

of ALM technology and bionic design in all stages of an aircraft life cycle”

Societal Challenges / Call identifier: H2020-MG-1.2-2015

Grant Agreement No.: 690689

Consortium

9 international Partners

2 Research Centers

5 Industrial Partners

1 SME

1 Standardization Organization

Budget and Duration

Overall Budget 7.96 Mio. €

Running from 01.09.16 to 31.08.19

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Structure of BionicAircraft Project

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BionicAircraft Demonstrators

Demonstrator 1:

A330NEO Jack Actuator Bracket

Bionic design, Quality Assurance,

Repair and recycling concepts

Demonstrator 3:A350XWB T-Mount Fitting

Bionic design

Demonstrator 2:A340 Hydraulic Block

Quality Assurance, Repair and

recycling concepts

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Bionic Feature Catalogue: Selected Models

Honeycomb structures

for stiffening of surface areas

Grass stalk structure

for lightweight, bent-proof

design

Epidermal cells and butterfly

wing structures for material

savings in volume

Smooth transition between

planes by Mattheck tree curve

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Designing Support Structures with Bionic Features

Development goals

Reduce material usage

Minimize surface roughness

Increase ease of removability

Assure dimensional accuracy

Define tensile strength

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High-strength Aluminium Powder Development

Configurate ICP process for AlSi10Mg powder and

establish the material sheet

Manufacture Al-Si-Sc and Al-Li powders by gas

atomization

Al-Si-Sc powder

High sphericity

Average Ø: 29 µm

Al-Li powder

High sphericity

Average Ø: 35 µm

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ALM Process Development for Al-Si-Sc

© EOS GmbH

10x10x10 mm3 cube

with pyramid strut ρmax > 99.90% +20/-63 µm

d50: 29.09 µm

Commercial ALM-

machine at IAPT

Crack free

Density up to 99.92%

Building rate up to 26 cm3/h (provided, ρ > 99.7%)

Hardness: 165 HV10; UTS: 460 MPa; A 3.6 % as built

Good

processability

and initial mechanical

properties

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ALM process development for Al-Li alloys

Evaluation of AA2065+Cu and AA2065 powders in ALM process

Bu

ildin

gd

irectio

n

Similar performance of the two alloys in the ALM process

High affinity to hot cracks and narrow process parameter

window: crack free specimens can be manufactured with lower

laser power (200W) and extreme slow scan speed (50-100mm/s).

AA2065+Cu: 104 ± 4 HV2 and AA2065: 79 ± 1 HV2

10x10x10 mm3 cube

with pyramid strut

ρmax > 99.80% (Image analysis)

Test rig Aconity

LAB

Vickers

hardness

Etching

Good density, but low

building rates

(0.5 -1 cm³ / h) and initial

mechanical properties

Optimization in progress

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Test rig for ALM process optimization

■ AconityLAB as a ‘basis’ for the test-rig was chosen

■ Integration of own optical system (3D-scanner)

■ Integration of COHERENT 1 kW laser

■ Check and verification of laser and optical system (diagnostics:

beam caustic, beam profile, laser power)

■ Separate check of every component and system

■ Implementation of beam shaping element (M-Shaper)

Test rig operational since April 2018 for further

material development and beam shaping experiments

Test Rig development and installation

ALM test rig installed at IAPT

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Quality assurance aspects

AIRBUS

Fraunhofer IAPT

HTC and HexMet Tecnalia

In-process

integrity check

In-line

integrity checkIn-service

integrity check

Life time

prediction

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Samples for testing of sensing methods

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Repair of ALM parts by Laser Metal Deposition

Development of process settings for AlSi10Mg in LMD process

Process parameters were narrowed down for optimization w.r.t

density (up to 99.8%)

Substrate condition (foundry or ALM manufactured) has significant

influence on the quality of the deposits.

Foundry substrate.

Deposit porosity of

1%.

ALM manufactured

substrate.

Deposit porosity of

8.8%.

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Innovative ALM-based after-sales supply chain

On-the-go printing

Strategically located service

provider

Streaming print data direct to

customer

Logistic companies

Service provider with repair and advanced ALM

capabilities

Crowd sourcing Own central/local facilities

Shared ALM Hub

Internal Impact• Efficient production of small volumes

• Less inventory/ on-demand print

• Agile & digital supply chain

• Increase parts portfolio

• Cost savings

External Impact• New part performance

• Shorter lead-time

• Weight Savings

• Independency

• Cost savings

• Agility

- Outsourcing

- Insourcing

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Contact:

Dr.-Ing. Philipp Imgrund

+49 (0) 40 484010-740

philipp.imgrund@iapt.fraunhofer.de

www.bionic-aircraft.eu

www.twitter.com/bionicaircraft

Thank you for your attention!