Boeing plans to begin testing a full 3D-printed main rotor system for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter in the spring of next year as part of an effort to cut out long-lead times and improve the overall supply chains for parts that are typically forged, according to company officials.
At the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference last week, a Boeing and ASTRO America team displayed its first 3D part, a main rotor link assembly, printed on what is currently the world’s largest 3D metal printer at Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois.
ASTRO, a nonprofit funded by the U.S. government, won a $95 million contract from the Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center to provide engineering support to develop additive manufacturing capabilities of large-size, large-scale parts including entire hulls for tanks and other combat vehicles as well as other prototype parts, explained ASTRO engineer Emma Gallegos.
That effort, called the Jointless Hull Project, involves a machine that is big enough to print an entire, single-piece M1 Abrams tank hull, she said. Read more here