The Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) has signed a deal with Sciaky to use its Ebam 300 to 3D print largescale titanium aerostructures up to 6 x 2 x 1.8 metres.
The customised Ebam 300 3D printer will be installed at TAI’s headquarters in Turkey’s capital Ankara, where TAI hopes to produce some of the biggest titanium parts in the industry that can reach a diameter of 2.4 meters.
TAI is a Turkish-US joint investment company, founded by the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology in 1973 to reduce country’s reliance on defence imports. It designs, manufactures and supports aerospace systems for military and commercial use in Turkey and internationally.
The Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing machine combines Electron-Beam (EB) welding with 3D printing functionality and can produce parts made of inconel, stainless steel, titanium, tantalum and other materials.
Sciaky’s Ebam uses an EB gun that deposits wire feedstock layer-by-layer, with a deposition rate of up to 25 lbs metal for an hour and a dual wire feed system.
The 3D printer also features the Interlayer Real-Time Imagining and Sensing System, a suite of closed-loop sensors by Sciaky that monitors key deposition parameters that can make adjustments in real-time, reducing variability during the part production.
TAI is not new to 3D printing, as it collaborated in the past with the FIT Additive Manufacturing Group to produce satellite-steering device holders.
“Sciaky’s EBAM systems are the most widely sold, large-scale DED metal 3D printers in the world, having approved parts on land, sea, air, and space applications,” said Sciaky president Scott Phillips.
“We applaud TAI’s vision for innovation and their ambitious plans to 3D print some of the largest titanium aerostructures in the world.”
