GKN Aerospace cuts assembly tool production time with Stratasys additive manufacturing

Stratasys has announced that GKN Aerospace is improving production times and removing design constraints for multiple tooling applications since integrating additive manufacturing at its Filton manufacturing site in the UK.

Tim Hope, Additive Manufacturing Centre Manager, at GKN Aerospace, says the company decided to invest in the Stratasys F900 Production 3D Printer in a bid to cut lead times for production-line tools, and to create complex parts, harder to make with traditional manufacturing methods.

Usually, the lead-time required to produce a metal or plastic replacement tool is several weeks. With the ability to use an in-house production 3D printer to do the same job, the replacement burden has now been removed and the responsiveness to manufacturing requirements improved.

“We can now cost-effectively produce tools for our operators within three hours,” Hope explains. “This saves critical production time, and by printing in engineering-grade thermoplastics, we can produce 3D printed tools with repeatable, predictable quality every time. All while matching the quality of a traditionally-produced tool, and reducing the costs and concessions compared to equivalent metallic tooling.”

While GKN Aerospace is currently using a standard thermoplastic, it is experimenting with Stratasys’ high-strength, heat-resistant ULTEM 1010 Resin material for these applications and has seen a 40 percent decrease in material waste.

Hope anticipates a greater move towards the use of FDM additive manufacturing to produce high-value, flight-critical, end-use composite parts.