Status of Metal Additive Manufacturing and Its Application Research in the Field of Civil Aviation

The metal additive manufacturing technology, which is based on the primary principle of layer-by-layer rapid melting/consolidation and stacking the metal or alloy materials, can forms any shape components in a manner of addition manufacturing. The main advantages of additive manufacturing include high forming efficiency, high material utilization rate, low cost, the ability of manufacturing complex structure and high-melting point material. Moreover, the additive manufacturing has the technical advantages unmatched by traditional processing in the weight reduction, rapid configuration change and the integrate manufacturing of civil aviation components. The metal raw materials and forming processes for additive manufacturing technology are rich and varied, providing much more choices for manufacturing components with different requirements in sizes, shapes, operating environments and a new path for weight reduction, efficiency improvement and cost control. Therefore, the world countries are actively formulating relevant strategic plans to seize the opportunities of additive manufacturing technologies and promote the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry. Global manufacturers, universities and other institutions have carried out a large amount of application researches on raw materials, processing and performances of additive manufacturing, among which the most typical example is the utilization in the cutting-edge manufacturing field of civil aviation. Different from other fields, the application of metal components in civil aircraft requires a strict airworthiness verification procedure to establish the standard specification and technical system, achieving stable and controllable manufacturing process and product quality. Then, the additive manufactured productions are allowed for being installed on airplane. This paper introduces the domestic and international policy overview, the classification of raw materials and processing, the type of non-destructive testing, the application research status of metal additive manufacturing on civil aircraft, and points out the research and development trend of expanding the application of metal additive manufacturing in civil aviation. © 2021, Materials Review Magazine. All right reserved.