Rostec’s Additive Technologies Center reportedly holds the largest fleet of 3D printing equipment in Russia, and has so far mastered the production of around 450 types of aerospace parts. Rostec’s additive technologies center has now been awarded a license from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade for the mass production of 3D printed aircraft parts. Rostec has already started mass 3D printing parts for the Russian aircraft engine PD-14 developed by the United Engine Corporation. While the aerospace sector has leveraged the efficiency, design and lightweighting benefits of 3D printing technologies for many years, the stringent safety, regulation and performance requirements of critical parts has meant that, in many cases, the technology has been slow to scale up to mass production levels for end-use parts. Saying that, in August last year 3D printer manufacturer EOS, industrial 3D printing service provider Baltic3D and MRO services provider Etihad Engineering announced they were exploring the serial 3D printing of interior aircraft parts. In-flight entertainment systems developer Cabin Management Solutions is also producing series of 3D printed components for luxury aircraft, leveraging Markforged’s 3D printing technology to create FAA-compliant parts. Elsewhere, air distribution systems manufacturer Senior Aerospace BWT has installed two Stratasys Fortus 450mc 3D printers to 3D print interior aircraft parts for its customers in-house, while aerospace firm Airbus qualified 3D printing service provider Materialise to produce flight-ready components for its aircraft.

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