15 Foot Solid Titanium Airplane Wing Part 3D Printed in One Piece

I know we have been talking a lot about the giant 3D printers that China is developing, capable of printing pieces as large as 20-30 feet in each direction. Although these printers are not quite ready for show time, China already has printed out extremely large parts.


Researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University in China accomplished what is known as the biggest one piece solid 3D print. They printed out a 5 meter (about 15 foot) long solid titanium wing section, which meets all the aerospace requirements for strength and durability. The part is a central wing spar for a Comac C919 passenger-plane.


Here are a few pictures of the massive titanium part. Just imagine what will be able to be printed in another few years as this technology matures!


http://solidsmack.com/wp-content/upl...flange.jpg.bmp


http://solidsmack.com/wp-content/upl...-2-600x897.jpg


http://www.3ders.org/images/3d-print...nium-china.jpg