Manufacturing Readiness for A & D Additive Production
Bridge the gap between prototype and repeatable production. Use these resources to align your designs for scalable, repeatable additive manufacturing applications.
Resources for Production-Ready Design
Successful A&D programs require early consideration of design optimization and material selection. These resources can help teams reduce development cycles and prepare parts for scalable production.
- Design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM) White Paper outlines how to leverage additive manufacturing to consolidate parts, reduce weight, and design for improved performance and manufacturability.
- Materials Brochure provides technical information on our portfolio of production-grade additive materials, including high-performance thermoplastics and engineering polymers commonly used in aerospace and defense applications.
- Aerospace Solutions Guide highlights key technologies, materials, quality systems, and real-world applications used to accelerate development, reduce weight, simplify supply chains, and support production-ready manufacturing.
Additive Manufacturing Technologies for Aero and Defense Production
Aerospace and defense components often span multiple additive manufacturing (AM) technologies depending on geometry, material, and production requirements. The resources below are organized by process to help guide design for production-ready manufacturing.
Powder Bed Fusion (SAF, SLS, and MJF)
Powder Bed Fusion: For complex, lightweight structures like housings and ducts that require defense-grade consistency at scale.
- Military UAV Part Diagram (Infographic) identifies common UAV components well-suited for powder bed fusion.
- SLS Design Guide covers design considerations that support accuracy, surface quality, and repeatability.
- SAF Design Guide focuses on designing nylon parts for consistent quality and higher-volume production using high nesting densities.
- MJF Design Guide covers design considerations for producing strong, accurate nylon parts with consistent mechanical properties across builds.
FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)
FDM: For structural components using aerospace-grade thermoplastics (ULTEM™/Antero™) that must survive demanding thermal and chemical environments.
- FDM Design Guide provides recommendations and guidance on wall thickness, orientation, support strategy, and material selection for production-ready FDM parts.
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