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GE Aviation invests $50M in 3-D printing plant

August 6, 2014  |  GE Aviation
GE Aviation

Journal News 

GE Aviation is investing $50 million to bring 3-D printing to its manufacturing plant in Auburn, Ala.

The jet engine and aircraft system manufacturer plans on using high volume 3-D printing to mass produce components for its jet engines. The $50 million will upgrade its existing 300,000-square-foot facility in Auburn.

That isn’t GE Aviation’s first foray into 3-D printing. In 2012, the company acquired the assets of two 3-D printing companiesoperating in suburban Cincinnati.

Equipment installation will begin in late 2014 and GE Aviation expects to begin production in 2015. The facility could have as many as 10 printing machines by the end of 2015, with the potential of eventually having more than 50 machines occupy a third of the facility.

The 3-D printers will be used to produce a fuel nozzle that will be used on the LEAP engine being developed by GE Aviation joint venture CFM International. It marks the first time such a component will be manufactured with 3-D printing.

“We spent years proving out this technology for a critical component in the heart of the engine, the combustion chamber,” GE Aviation general manager for Additive Technologies Greg Morris said in a news release. “Now we are well positioned to apply this technology to other components in the same harsh environment which could prove to be game changing for future engine programs and designs.”

All development of 3-D printed components will remain in the company’s Additive Technology Center in Cincinnati, which it expects to grow 300 percent in the coming year.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/08/04/ge-aviation-invests-50m-in-3-d-printing-plant.html