Airbus has successful test of a 3D printed spoiler actuator valve block on its A380 passenger airliner. The level of performance is the same as the conventional valve block, but this one is 35% lighter and made from fewer parts.
Airbus has successfully flown a 3D printed spoiler actuator valve block made by Liebherr-Aerospace. Liebherr says the part, flown on an Airbus A380 passenger airliner test flight, is the first 3D printed primary flight control hydraulic component flown on an Airbus aircraft.
It offers the same level of performance as a conventional valve block, but is 35% lighter and made from fewer parts. That might as well be the tagline for additive manufacturing—making the same things but with less mass and fewer joins—but it is also a significant step for Liebherr-Aerospace, the aerospace arm of Switzerland’s Liebherr Group, as well as Airbus, the aerospace company whose A380 airliner has benefitted from the new 3D printed part.
The valve block, 3D printed from titanium powder, is part of Liebherr-Aerospace’s spoiler actuator, and provides primary flight control functions on the A380, which successfully completed its first flight test with the 3D printed part on March 30. Liebherr says the selective laser melting (SLM) manufacturing process used to make the valve block is less complex than other methods, and also helps to keep titanium waste to a minimum.
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