TOP-FLIGHT TECH
Tinker team has produced the first 3-D-printed part successfully tested on an Air Force engine
A team from Tinker Air Force Base has built the first 3D-printed metal part for a jet engine already in service.
Members of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, a wing of the U.S. Air Force Sustainment Center, successfully tested the component that marks a significant milestone for the future of aircraft maintenance.
Instead of molding or sculpting a new anti-ice gasket from an existing piece of metal, the crew used additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, to create the component. The gasket goes on the TF33- P 103 engine, which is used for the E -3 Airborne Warning aircraft, the E-8 surveillance aircraft, and the six-decade-old B-52 Stratofortress.
“This accomplishment is truly a historical first,” said Johnny Ts iao, propulsion structural competency lead for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. “This is a digitally designed and digitally engineered component that represents a substantial milestone in Air Force sustainment.”
The project began when
Air Force personnel realized they had a shortage of antiice gaskets. Historically, maintenance workers visually inspected and reused gaskets, but new rules required that old gaskets be replaced.
So far, base personnel have digitally engineered and printed 30 of the components, the Air Force said. The successful test was completed this month.
Building new gaskets with 3 D printers significantly reduces the time between the contract date and manufacturing. The Air Force said administrative lead time was slashed from three months to just two or three weeks.
“We' ve implemented a crawl, walk and run approach when it comes to additive manufacturing,” said Tsiao. “We haven't had a 3D-printed metal component in Air Force engines before, but in the next 12-24 months, this technology will open the door to more complex and critical components that help to improve our sustainment efforts moving forward.”
Beyond rolling out innovative aerospace manufacturing techniques, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base partnered with the University of Oklahoma to improve science, tech, engineering and math education, or STEM.
The partnership will enable OU faculty and students to obtain access to otherwise unavailable resources, such as unique, state-of-the-art equipment, facilities, process
facilitation tools, expert knowledge and more, all while participating in internships and receiving credit toward their degrees.
OU personnel also will have the opportunity to work on an important national security mission while tackling and helping solve practical problems within t he Department of Defense and aerospace industry, the Air Force said.
A software engineering group from the base will be the first to open a satellite office on the OU campus.
“STEM and the state of Oklahoma are both very important for us with OU being one of the biggest producers of STEM graduates and the Air Logistics Center, and Tinker at large, being the largest single-site employer for those graduates ,” said base commander B rig. Gen. Jeffrey R. King. “We believe this partnership will enhance the quality of OU STEM grads by giving them the opportunity to put their studies to use in solving relevant, often time-sensitive, problems that impact national security and combat capability.”