Aerospace engineering: Watching welds
In linear friction welding, two pieces of metal such as the aluminum alloy shown here are rubbed together under strong compressive forces until they beco...

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Tijuana, Mexico #39;s Aerospace Manufacturing Hub.
Learn how Tijuana thrives as a competitive platform for aerospace manufacturing. Start Now. Contact Tijuana EDC today.

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Gulfstream Aerospace G450 M-KBBG Landing Take Off at Airport Bern-Belp
In January 2014, Gulfstream Aerospace G450 with registration number M-KBBG visited the Airport Bern-Belp in Switzerland. This long-range business jet aircraf...

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Ohio State University, Dept of Mechanical Aerospace Engineering - Engineering Challenges
The mission of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is to educate the future leaders of mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering to ge...

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Students Now Learning Aerospace Engineering At College Level
Godby High School will be partnering with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to offer dual enrollment opportunities in aerospace and engineering for...

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If you're following the 3-D printing space, you might know that aerospace companies are gung-ho about 3-D printing technology and are quickly embracing it. While General Electric (NYSE: GE) gets the lion's share of the press, its primary competitor,United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) , and other aerospace companies are also involved, to varying degrees, with 3-D printing technology.

We're going to explore a sampling -- it's by no means complete -- of how General Electric and United Technologies, which both have divisions that produce jet engines, are using or planning to use 3-D printing in their production processes. Both companies, like many large manufacturers, have been using 3-D printing for prototyping for many years.

Why should aerospace investors care? Aerospace companies that more quickly and successfully put to use 3-D printing throughout their operations will likely sport a competitive advantage over their slower-moving or less effective peers because of the considerable cost savings and innovative possibilities that this technology can unleash.

Why the aerospace industry is all-aboard the 3-D printing train (or plane)The aerospace industry is keen for 3-D printing for the same reasons many other industries are -- the technology can save time and costs, and it allows for increased innovation.

The cost savings are driven by a few factors, including less raw material use than in traditional manufacturing. This is because 3-D printing is additive, and builds a component up layer by layer, rather than subtractive like traditional manufacturing, which involves whittling away at a chunk of material -- a process that generates much waste. Increased innovation is made possible because 3-D printing allows for designing and producing some parts that can't be made using traditional manufacturing processes.

While raw material cost savings aren't a benefit unique to the aerospace industry, they're a bigger factor than in most other industries because aerospace-grade materials, such as titanium, are very pricey.

There is one big factor rather unique to the aerospace industry: weight. Weight is of critical concern for aerospace components, as small reductions in weight lead to huge savings in fuel costs. 3-D printing allows for some components to be constructed in a such a way as to make them considerably lighter than would be possible using traditional manufacturing techniques. Weight, of course, is a factor among automakers, too, but not to the same magnitude.

General Electric: $255 billion market capGeneral Electric's big push into 3-D printing started when it bought Morris Technologies in late 2012. This acquisition gave GE a full-scale 3-D production facility near its aviation division's Ohio headquarters, as Morris was then equipped with 35 3-D printers, mainly comprised of privately held EOS's direct metal laser sintering systems, along with at least one or two of Arcam's (NASDAQOTH: AMAVF) electron beam melting, or EBM, systems.

In mid-2013, General Electric announced it planned to use 3-D printing to produce the fuel nozzles for its new Leap jet-engine, each of which will contain 19 nozzles. This is a huge undertaking, as GE needs to fabricate 85,000 nozzles for the engine orders it has in hand, and expects its annual production to eventually require 45,000 nozzles, according to a Bloomberg article.

The company's massive nozzle production goals would require it to buy at least 60 very pricey 3-D printers, which isn't cost effective. So GE plans to use current technology to ramp up its production while also working with supply chain manufacturers to develop new higher-capacity systems.

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3-D Printing in the Aerospace Industry: How General Electric and United Technologies Are Using This

AIP Aerospace, a world-leading provider of aircraft tooling systems and composite parts, welcomes Flow Aerospace Systems to its family. Previously a part of Flow International, Flow Aerospace Systems is the worlds leading provider of equipment for machining large, composite aerostructures, using both waterjet technology and conventional routing.

Located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Flow Aerospace designs and manufactures efficient and advanced turn-key composite machining solutions for the aerospace industry. These composite machining solutions include multi-process machine tools that waterjet cut, drill, route and inspect large composite aerostructures, primarily wing and fuselage skins, for customers such as Boeing, Airbus, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Bombardier, Embraer, and COMAC.

To lead Flow Aerospace into its new home with AIP Aerospace, Simon Kenworthy has been appointed Vice President and General Manager. With more than 23 years experience in the waterjet industry, 14 of which have been spent exclusively in aerospace applications, Simon brings with him expertise in engineering, operations, project management, and sales and marketing.

Flow Aerospace will be an ideal fit within our existing customer base and aerostructure tooling business, stated Brian Williams, CEO of AIP Aerospace. Were happy to welcome the leading industry experts at Flow Aerospace and expand our service offering.

About AIP Aerospace

AIP Aerospace is one of the largest independent aerospace tooling group providers and suppliers of high temperature composite parts, critical components, aircraft structures, transparencies, and coating technologies. Our strategically aligned Tooling Group and Aerostructures and composites companies harness the unrivaled expertise of our dedicated industry professionals and state-of-the-art facilities across the US. Visitwww.aipaerospace.comfor more information.

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AIP Aerospace Welcomes The Addition Of Flow Aerospace Systems

The Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager started to spin at its normal rate today and collect science data on Earth's rain and snowfall.

Launched aboard NASA's GPM Core Observatory on February 27, GMI's electronics have been turned on and all seven launch restraints released, deploying the instrument. GMI, a multi-channel, conical-scanning microwave radiometer built for NASA, began spinning today collecting the first science data of the mission. The GMI will complete several additional check-out procedures during the commissioning process.

"GMI is on the way to setting a new standard for data accuracy that will provide more timely, detailed information forecasters need to track extreme weather events," said Ball Aerospace President Rob Strain. "Using GMI's data, the world's scientists will have a more accurate picture of the world's precipitation dataset."

The Ball Aerospace-built instrument will deliver more frequent and higher quality data collection than currently available. The eight-foot tall GMI radiometer rotates at 32 revolutions per minute and uses four extremely stable calibration points on each revolution to calibrate the data it scans. The instrument minimizes solar intrusion for added accuracy and features higher frequency channels to measure smaller particles of precipitation such as light rain and snow.

GMI is an essential part of an international satellite mission that will capture next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. The GPM Core Observatory will deliver unprecedented 3-D views of hurricanes and snowstorms and contribute to monitoring and forecasting weather events such as droughts, floods and landslides.

GMI is one example of Ball's long support of the country's weather and climate monitoring efforts. The GPM constellation includes the Ball Aerospace-built Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite which launched in 2011 and the first Joint Polar Satellite System, currently in development at Ball, both of which will enable faster, more accurate weather forecasting. GPM, along with these two satellites, will significantly enhance our nation's ability to prepare for severe weather events.

GMI's design is based on successful microwave sensors built previously by Ball Aerospace, including the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C), the GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO-2) and the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS).

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. For more information, visit http://www.ballaerospace.com/.

Ball Corporation (BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit http://www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

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Ball Aerospace-built GMI Instrument Begins Operations Onboard NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement Satellite