Boeing and Oerlikon, a technology and engineering group, signed a five-year collaboration agreement to develop standard materials and processes for metal-based additive manufacturing. Boeing and Oerlikon will use the data from this collaboration to support the qualification of additive manufacturing suppliers to produce metallic components using a variety of machines and materials. The research will initially focus on industrializing titanium powder bed fusion additive manufacturing and ensuring parts made with this process meet the flight requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defence. The strong collaboration between Boeing and Oerlikon will enable the companies to meet the current challenges to qualify materials and processes for aerospace and provide a route for the adoption of additive manufacturing with a qualified supply chain that achieves quality and cost targets.
Since 1997, Boeing has been researching and implementing additive manufacturing in the aerospace industry and currently has about 50,000 3D-printed parts flying on commercial, space and defence programs. In 2017, Boeing became the first aerospace manufacturer to design and install a Federal Aviation Administration-qualified 3D-printed structural titanium part on a commercial airplane, the 787 Dreamliner. With the creation of the Boeing Additive Manufacturing organization in 2017, Boeing is focused on using additive manufacturing to generate value for customers by enabling greater affordability, quality, customization and speed-to-market innovation.
Oerlikon is a service provider in additive manufacturing, offering a full-range of integrated additive manufacturing services along the entire value chain – from metal powder production to component design, manufacturing, post-processing and quality inspection.
