|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Watch Live: The seminars are held in the James L. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters and broadcast live on NASA TV (select the "Education Channel" from drop-down box) on the date of each seminar.
Watch Later: Video podcast, windows streaming, and downloadable captioned videos are available after each seminar.
|
Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication: A Fabrication Process that Revolutionizes Aircraft Structural Designs and Spacecraft Supportability
Date: May 22, 2008, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Presented By: Karen Taminger, materials research engineer, NASA's Langley Research Center
|
Electron beam freeform fabrication process.
|
|
A structural metal part fabricated from EBF³.
|
Electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF³) is a cross-cutting technology
for producing structural metal parts. Developed by researchers at NASA's
Langley Research Center as a replacement for forgings, this
manufacturing process offers significant reductions in cost and lead
time. The promise of this technology extends far beyond its
applicability to low-cost manufacturing and aircraft structural designs.
EBF³ could provide a way for astronauts to fabricate structural spare
parts and new tools aboard the International Space Station or on the
surface of the moon or Mars.
EBF³ uses a focused electron beam in a vacuum environment to create a
molten pool on a metallic substrate. This layer-additive process enables
fabrication of parts directly from CAD drawings. Metal can be placed
only where it is needed and the material chemistry and properties can be
tailored throughout a single-piece structure, leading to new design
methods for integrated sensors, tailored structures, and complex,
curvilinear stiffeners. The parts can be designed to support loads and
perform other functions such as aeroelastic tailoring or acoustic
dampening.
This seminar will follow the maturation of the EBF³ technology from
inception to commercialization, including the formation of a
government-industry team to complete the hand-off to the industrial
manufacturing sector. It will also describe how a manufacturing process
can influence future aircraft designs by providing a solution that
enables multidisciplinary optimization. Finally, it will end with the
transition from a materials process development activity to a tool that
can change design methodologies to incorporate aeroelastic and acoustic
tailoring into aircraft structures.
|
|
|
