Weight reduction and function integration with titanium 3D printing

Task and challenge

Customer	Industry	Product	Used material
Autoflug GmbH	Aviation	Fan housing for helicopter pilots	Titanium alloy (TiAl6V4)

Autoflug GmbH was working on the re-design of the personnel protective equipment for helicopter crews, as the handling of individual components in flight had proven to be cumbersome and time consuming. The aim was to upgrade the previous fan housing for the cooling system in the pilots’ overalls to make it lighter and more compact. Additional objectives were to ensure intuitive haptic handling of the system and to increase the robustness of areas which previously had been prone to defects.

Optimization in numbers

100%

reduced system dimensions

100%

function integration

100%

higher stiffness

Solution

Planning and implementation of a creative workshop to develop possible solutions
Development and design of the fan housing with self-guiding locking mechanism for the attachment to the pilots equipment
Utilization of lightweight potential through degrees of freedom in 3D printing
Additive Manufacturing of functional prototypes

Success

Recuction of the overall system dimensions through an optimized design
Integration of functions through a self-centering metal closure system directly in 3D printing
Weight reduction and high stiffness by using titanium