Northrop Grumman Company is accelerating the event of high-temperature supplies via its Scalable Composite Robotic Additive Manufacturing Carbon/Carbon (SCRAM C/C) to assist rising hypersonic and high-speed weapons.
“We’re pioneering a speedy fabrication course of that doesn’t require tooling to manufacturing aerospace-grade, steady fiber built-in composite buildings,” stated Dan Olson, vp and common supervisor of Weapon Techniques for Northrop Grumman. “This manufacturing development will ship functionality to the sphere a lot quicker than conventional strategies, and ensures our warfighters have the most recent expertise and superior weapons to counter each present and future threats.”
SCRAM is an industrial, true 6-axis steady fiber-reinforced 3D printer, which allows the fabrication of built-in composite buildings. These buildings then endure a proprietary manufacturing course of and are became C/C to service the high-temperature supplies group the place advanced, near-net shapes are required.
Traditionally, C/C manufacturing strategies have been labor intensive. By introducing course of automation, the manufacturing time and value could be lowered by as much as 50 p.c in comparison with conventional strategies – delivering functionality to the sphere quicker. Course of automation has additionally proven a measurable uptick in element high quality and consistency.
Northrop Grumman is printing steady fiber composites at a big scale, a notable achievement inside the additive manufacturing business. The corporate’s course of doesn’t require long-lead tooling and incorporates in-situ consolidation of the composite, which dramatically adjustments the associated fee paradigm to fabricate high-temperature composites. The corporate has been awarded a number of patents on SCRAM expertise.
Northrop Grumman lately joined the federal authorities in implementing AM Ahead, a voluntary initiative aimed toward strengthening US-based suppliers’ adoption and deployment of AM capabilities. AM has the potential to enhance the agility of aerospace producers the place legacy casting and forging processes are sometimes resource- and time-intensive; the expertise is foundational to US international competitiveness and manufacturing resiliency.
