Electron-Beam Additive Manufacturing Process Control for Titanium Alloys

Titanium forgings are high cost and long lead time items which negatively impact aircraft manufacturing costs and cycle times.   Additive manufacturing of titanium structural parts has the potential to reduce lead and cycle times, work in process, and the amount of titanium required to produce structural parts.  Additionally, additive manufacturing can be used to fabricate or repair components/spares in small production runs and to produce prototypes where tooling or conventional manufacturing costs would be prohibitive.  The focus of this effort will be to develop and demonstrate wire-feed electron beam additive manufacturing (eBAM) techniques and control processes to produce flight worthy titanium alloy structural aerospace components typically used in DoD aerospace production programs.  Special emphasis will be given to the demonstration of the sensors and systems necessary for closed-loop control of the deposition parameters, critical to the quality of the component.  Additionally,  establishment of a detailed business case will be completed to show that the optimized eBAM solutions are competitive with existing titanium forging processes in terms of cost, quality, lead and cycle times, WIP, etc. BENEFITS: This proposed project will benefit military aircraft and engine systmes by developing and validating a high quality and cost effective method for electron beam additive manufacturing of titanium structural components.