by David Yanagidate, Editor’s Note
On the last day of SME’s AeroDef® Manufacturing 2014, I left inspired and more knowledgeable.
In one of the technical sessions, Rob Gorman, Deputy Director at American Makes-The National Manufacturing Innovation Institute, talked about the fifteen (15) new projects that America Makes has awarded. The fifteen projects are in addition to the previous six (6) awarded in September 2013. The projects include challenges in materials, processes and certifications.
Greg Morris, Strategy/Business Development-Additive Technologies, at GE Aviation shared applications where AM is playing an increasingly important and interesting role in GE’s next generation of products.
On the exhibit floor, Ron Ott, Deputy Director and Bob Norris, The Composites Materials Technology Group, of ORNL talked about Large-Part Additive Manufacturing and partnership with Cincinnati Incorporated.
The ORNL tooling part shown on the left is made of ABS with 13% carbon fiber. The very large part was additively manufactured on a 8 ft. x 8 ft. x 8 ft. build platform, with an extruder output of 20 lbs./hr.
The applications for AM, whether extreme like a rocket engine component, a large tooling part or an exterior instrumentation part seem limitless. And with a strong sense of community, cooperation and innovation, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has a bright future indeed.
Special thanks to SME for a great conference!
