First Osprey Flight With Critical 3D Printed Part
4th August 2016
Specifically, in the test at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, the Osprey’s engine nacelle contained a 3D printed titanium link, small enough to hold in one hand, that helps hold the engine onto the wing. (There are four links per engine; only one was 3D printed in this test). So this wasn’t the usual low-risk, low-hanging fruit for additive manufacturing: a plastic bracket to hang things from, a disposable syringe, a mock-up or model — the kind of things produced by the first 3D printer installed on a Navy warship. Instead, it was something so essential that if it broke, the engine might start coming off.