MT Aerospace AG has decided to enter the Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology. Negotiations with the Strasbourg-based company BeAM were already at an advanced stage and an agreement was reached on an extensive cooperation.

Strategic goal of MT Aerospace AG's is to establish a European competence center for the manufacturing of large structures using additive manufacturing. In addition to applying the DED technology to the products of MT Aerospace and companies affiliated to the OHB Group, it is also planned to emerge as a service provider with the support of BeAM. MT Aerospace aims to become a leading manufacturer of high-quality DED parts.

The BeAM Modulo 400 machine was chosen to step into the blow-powder deposition. The aim is to qualify this technology with different materials as well as the entire process chain – from data preparation to finishing and certification of components for use in the aerospace industry.

"We are very pleased to establish such a partnership with MT Aerospace, a leading industrial company in the aerospace market. It highlights the potential of DED to manufacture large structures with economic gains as well as the capacities of our machines. It is an important step for BeAM in our journey to industrialize additive manufacturing and I would like to thank MT Aerospace for making it happen." explains Vincent GILLET, CEO of BeAM.

Advantages of DED

MT Aerospace company is particularly interested in the possibility of using a controlled atmosphere to build up reactive materials such as titanium alloys. For this purpose, the machine has a sealed internal enclosure with antechamber.

Preliminary tests at MT Aerospace show that BeAM's technology enables one of the best deposition qualities and surfaces in the DED market.

The Modulo 400 will be used to qualify initial materials and medium-sized parts. The BeAM DED technology is based on a blow-powder laser metal deposition technology, which has been proven for many years. The simultaneous 5-axis machines from BeAM operate with a Sinumerik control from Siemens and make it possible to print thin-walled geometries – without support structures.

In addition, metals can be processed using the sandwich method. This means that a hard, wear-resistant material can be applied to a tough, soft one in order to achieve the best material properties. Graded materials can also be built up in the future.

The possibility to build parts completely in near-net-shape, to weld partial structures on halflings as well as to produce repair and coating in investment fine casting quality make the DED technology unique, according to BeAM.