Airbus Helicopter to Further Employ TRUMPF 3D Printer Technology

Airbus Helicopters will use 3D printers from TRUMPF to manufacture components for its helicopters, as well as for aircraft from the parent company Airbus, as the aerospace company expands its additive manufacturing capabilities with a new 3D-printing center in Donauwörth, Germany. According to Helmut Färber, site manager of Airbus Helicopters at the Donauwörth location, the 3D-printing process using TRUMPF’s equipment will help to reduce the weight of components. This in turn, he said, helps operators reduce fuel consumption, and by extension, costs.

Machines like TRUMPF’s TruPrint 3000 with control unit is among the machines that Airbus will deploy at its 3D-printing center in Donauwörth, Germany, to manufacture aircraft components. Courtesy of TRUMPF.

Airbus Helicopters currently uses 3D printers from TRUMPF to manufacture structural components made of titanium and high-strength aluminum. According to Richard Bannmüller, additive manufacturing saves expensive raw material and can lower production costs in the aviation industry. The technology uses only the material that designers require for their components, he said. He added that 3D-printing users can also reuse unused metal powder. Conventional manufacturing processes, on the other hand, require up to 10 times more raw material than the final product. When milling or chipping, much of the raw material ends up being waste.

Airbus said that it plans to produce components in the new facility for its electric-powered CityAirbus, the experimental high-speed Racer helicopter, and the Airbus A350 and A320 passenger aircraft, among others vehicles.