A PW1524G during testing in West Palm Beach (Photo © Pratt & Whitney)

Pratt & Whitney has announced that when it delivers its first production PurePower® PW1500G engines to Bombardier this year, the engines will include Metal Injection Moulded components as well as being the first to feature entry-into-service jet engine parts produced using Additive Manufacturing.

The PurePower engine family parts will be the first product produced using 3D printing powder bed Additive Manufacturing. Related manufacturing technologies to be used in the PurePower engine include Electron Beam Melt and Laser Powder Bed Fusion (including Direct Metal Laser Sintering).

While Pratt & Whitney has produced more than 100,000 prototype parts using Additive Manufacturing over the past 25 years, the company states that it will be the first to use AM technology to produce compressor stators and synch ring brackets for the production engines.

The PurePower engine family parts will be the first product produced using 3D printing powder bed Additive Manufacturing

“Pratt & Whitney has been working with Additive Manufacturing since the 1980s and we are looking forward to our upcoming milestone when the first production PurePower PW1500G engines with parts produced through Additive Manufacturing will be delivered,” stated Tom Prete, Pratt & Whitney’s Engineering Vice President.

“We are a vertically integrated Additive Manufacturing producer with our own metal powder source and the printers necessary to create parts using this innovative technology. As a technology leader, we are intrigued by the potential of Additive Manufacturing to support our suite of technologies and benefits to customers and the global aerospace industry,” added Prete.

In production tests, Pratt & Whitney states that it has realised up to 15 months lead-time savings compared to conventional manufacturing processes and up to 50% weight reduction in a single part.

www.pratt-whitney.com