LEUVEN, Belgium, Nov. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In April of this year, Materialise NV (), a leading provider of additive manufacturing software and of sophisticated 3D printing solutions in the medical and industrial markets, announced that they had obtained EN9100 and EASA 21G certification; authorizing the Company to deliver airworthy additive manufactured end-use parts. Today, Materialise is proud to announce that their certified Factory for 3D Printing is now manufacturing plastic parts for Airbus's A350 XWB.
A new generation of aircraft, the A350 XWB offers 25 per cent lower fuel consumption in addition to highest comfort standards for passengers. These improvements reflect Airbus's focus on meeting the modern requirements of travelers, whose long-range flights are increasing in both frequency and distance. For its newest A350 XWB, Airbus introduced a high level of intelligence through the integration of simple, robust and efficient state-of-the-art systems, which ensure reliability and lower maintenance requirements. With these objectives in mind, it should come as no surprise that certain end-use parts of the A350 XWB are being 3D printed, especially given the benefits that this technology offers in terms of topology optimization and functional integration.
"Airbus understands and appreciates the benefits that 3D printing - or more appropriately in this case, Additive Manufacturing (AM) -- can...