Of all the industries that have benefited from 3D printing, aerospace is one of the most prominent. The ability to create strong, lightweight parts through additive manufacturing (AM) presents numerous opportunities in aerospace and aviation applications.
“Aerospace is one of the highest consumers of 3D printing applications,” said Chukwuzubelu Ufodike, director and assistant professor at the Digital Manufacturing and Distribution lab at Texas A&M University. “It uses very specific parts that cannot be manufactured with conventional methods.”
The aerospace industry has used both metallic and non-metallic materials in 3D printing. This article focuses on metallic materials and the differences in the most popular choices.