GE pushes a 3D printed
mini jet engine to 33,000RPM
Amazing things are happening every day in the world of 3D printing, from zero gravity coffee cups to replacement body parts. Now we can add a fully-functional jet engine to the list. What you see here isn't going to wind up under the wing of a passenger plane. It's a much smaller (and less complex) engine, modeled after the ones you'd find on a jet-powered model airplane. A team of GE engineers created this one foot by eight inch powerplant to showcase the company's additive manufacturing capabilities.
Once they finished printing all the parts, they assembled their engine and then headed to the test chamber to fire it up, and pushed the engine to an impressive 33,000RPM.
All of the parts used in the engine's construction were created by direct metal laser melting. Like a desktop 3D printer, DMLM builds parts by laying down cross-sections of a 3D model in razor-thin layers. One after another, they're sandwiched together until the part is completed. Instead of pulling filament through an extruder, DMLM heats powered metals with a powerful laser.
Amazing things are happening every day in the world of 3D printing, from zero gravity coffee cups to replacement body parts. Now we can add a fully-functional jet engine to the list. What you see here isn't going to wind up under the wing of a passenger plane. It's a much smaller (and less complex) engine, modeled after the ones you'd find on a jet-powered model airplane. A team of GE engineers created this one foot by eight inch powerplant to showcase the company's additive manufacturing capabilities.
Once they finished printing all the parts, they assembled their engine and then headed to the test chamber to fire it up, and pushed the engine to an impressive 33,000RPM.
All of the parts used in the engine's construction were created by direct metal laser melting. Like a desktop 3D printer, DMLM builds parts by laying down cross-sections of a 3D model in razor-thin layers. One after another, they're sandwiched together until the part is completed. Instead of pulling filament through an extruder, DMLM heats powered metals with a powerful laser.
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DMLM offers some major
advantages over traditional manufacturing methods. For one thing, GE's team was
able to go straight from their models to a finished product. There's also no
tooling required and much less waste is produced during the process. Like other
3D printing and additive manufacturing methods, DMLM allows the creation of
forms that couldn't be produced using traditional methods.
While GE isn't 3D printing entire engines that can power something the size of a passenger plane yet, they did recently get FAA clearance to start producing a 3D-printed jet part for commercial jet engines. This sensor housing isn't very big - it's about the size of a fist - but it's the first FAA-approved 3D-printed part. GE's working on other components now, from fuel nozzles
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