Airbus and the 3D Printer

It has been revealed that the new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, delivered in December 2014, has been produced with over 1000 flight parts build on the company’s range of Stratasys 3D printers. Use of the 3D printers enabled Airbus to meet the delivery schedule on time and increase the supply chain flexibility

The 3D printed parts were built using ULTEM™ 9085 filament. This material offers excellent strength-to-weight ratio and meet the required FST compliance for aircraft interiors. Production time and manufacturing costs were significantly reduced by replacing traditionally manufactured parts with the strong, lighter weight parts produced using the FDM system.

We are delighted that Stratasys additive manufacturing solutions are being adopted by Airbus for its flagship A350 XWB aircraft. Both companies share a vision of applying innovative technologies to design and manufacturing to create game-changing benefits.

Our additive manufacturing solutions can produce complex parts on-demand, ensuring on time delivery while streamlining supply chains. Additive manufacturing also greatly improves the buy-to-fly ratio as significantly less material is wasted than with conventional manufacturing methods. Stratasys is looking forward to bringing these and other advantages to its collaboration with Airbus and to being part of Airbus’ Factory of the Future initiative.Dan Yalon, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Marketing & Vertical Solutions for Stratasys

All the key industries are now recognizing the huge advantages to be gained by adopting additive manufacturing technology over traditional methods. Original and replacement parts can be 3D printed using the Stratasys FDM technology resulting in reduced operational costs, faster production and better innovation opportunities.