The Clean Aviation workshop “Additive Manufacturing in Aviation” was organised by Fraunhofer Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) and Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) as a hybrid event at ILT in Aachen on 17th to 18th January 2024.
In the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, the aviation industry is applying Additive Manufacturing (AM) in several projects. Material suppliers, manufacturers, research institutions and aviation industry are working collaborative together to increase the maturity on the one hand, decrease the ‘buy-to-fly’- ratio for metallic parts on the other hand and to collect the Life cycle inventory (LCI) data for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
The workshop in Aachen discussed topics of Additive Manufacturing to close the identified gaps in Life Cycle Assessment of AM. At the first workshop in 2019, the following gaps were identified: Powder production, reuse and recycling of used powders and recycling of supporting structures or fault parts as well as end of life scenarios. Furthermore, efficiency of equipment and new integrated processes, like hybrid AM, were discussed.
Nine high-quality presentations by powder manufacturers, industrial AM users from the Clean Sky 2 platforms, and research institutes comprehensively covered the entire life cycle spectrum. The workshop concluded with a visit to the ILT technical laboratories, where technical discussions delved into the latest applications and developments in AM directly at the shop floor.
In a concluding open panel, following observations and take-home messages are stated:
Fraunhofer-Institut für Chemische Technologie ICT
