Boeing and Thermwood Corporation have employed additive manufacturing technology to produce a large, single-piece tool for the 777X program. The project is demonstrating that additive manufacturing is ready to produce production quality tooling for the aerospace industry.
Thermwood used a Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) machine and newly developed Vertical Layer Print (VLP) 3D printing technology to fabricate the tool as a one-piece print, eliminating the additional cost and schedule required for assembly of multiple 3D printed tooling components.
In the joint demonstration program, Thermwood printed and trimmed the 12-foot-long R&D tool at its southern Indiana demonstration lab and delivered it to Boeing in August 2018. Boeing Research & Technology engineer Michael Matlack believes the use of Thermwood’s additive manufacturing technology in this application provided a significant advantage, saving weeks of time and enabling delivery of the tool before traditional tooling could be fabricated.
The tool was printed as a single piece from 20% carbon fiber reinforced ABS using the Vertical Layer Print system. Boeing purchased a Thermwood LSAM machine with the VLP functionality for the Interiors Responsibility Center (IRC) facility in Everett, Washington. The ability to quickly produce large-scale tooling at a quality level suitable for a real world production environment represents a significant step in moving additive technology from the laboratory to the factory floor.
About Boeing
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners, defense, space and security systems, and service provider of aftermarket support. As America’s biggest manufacturing exporter, the company supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing products and tailored services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and performance-based logistics and training.
About Thermwood
Thermwood manufactures both 3 and 5 Axis Machining Centers as well as Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) systems for a variety of industries including aerospace, automotive, marine, woodworking, plastics and military/defense. Thermwood is a US based company with dealers and distributors worldwide. In addition to machine manufacturing and software development, Thermwood has a technical service organization that provides support, machine installation, training, retrofits, custom programming and production assistance.
Thermwood Corporation
904 Buffaloville Rd
Dale, Indiana 47523
800.533.6901
www.thermwood.com
Source: Thermwood Corporation
