Aluminum King Kenlian Launches 3D Printed Aircraft Body Technology

Reprinted on a large-scale non-ferrous net: Constellium, headquartered in Amsterdam, is a global company. The company has nearly 8,800 employees whose business activities span the fields of aerospace, automotive, packaging, etc., but what the company's business units have in common is aluminum, which uses a variety of methods to manufacture aluminum products.

Through branches around the world, Kennel Aluminum manufactures approximately 1 million tons of aluminum products each year, including plates, sheets, profiles and precision casting products. Its customers include Airbus, Boeing, Mitsubishi, and Embraer. , Dassault, Bombardier and Kawasaki.

Recently, Kennel Aluminum has announced that they have entered into a partnership with STULIA Aerospace, an aircraft fuselage design and manufacturing company, and CTINGENIERIE, an engineering company known for technological innovation, to jointly develop a research project called FAST.

It is understood that the FAST project will focus on topology optimization and additive manufacturing processes for aerospace structures. Kennel Aluminum stated that FAST will seek to optimize design and technology to make the manufacture of large aerospace structures and components more efficient.

Bruno Chenal, R&D director for the research and technology division of Alcoa Aluminum, said that 3D printing and additive manufacturing offer various alternatives for the design and manufacture of large aerospace components, such as aircraft fuselage. He said that currently available technologies are not yet capable of designing large modules, but he added that the 3D printed fuselage makes it easier to modify, duplicate, and customize the design.

"The goal of the FAST project is to change the way that innovative technologies are implemented and to expand the use of 3D printing," said Chenal. "3D printing allows us to create the shape and performance of metal parts that could not have been achieved before."

FAST is a long-term project that began last year and is still in the early stages of development. According to TGCS, Constellium will be the main material supplier for the project, Stelia Aerospace will be responsible for design and manufacturing, and CTINGENIERIE will use its expertise to optimize the design.

Chenal said that although 3D printing has already been widely used in technology and manufacturing, the project will push this technology to an "unprecedented scale." Is it really 3D printing aircraft fuselage?

In 2014, Kenlian Aluminum’s sales revenue was 3.7 billion euros.