A Maverick idea: How AM and particle sizing can help bring jet planes home safely
Being in the Air Force isn’t all about flying fast jets and playing volleyball on the beach with Tom Cruise: sometimes, it involves being stuck in a remote location with a damaged aircraft. That’s because fighter jets travel all over the world, often to places where getting replacement parts can be logistically challenging. It can take several days, if not weeks, to receive them.
In the United Kingdom, RAF Wittering is investigating an innovative solution to this challenge: additive manufacturing (AM). By enabling local part production with shorter turnaround times, AM can help damaged aircraft get off the ground and back to base more quickly. Once back at the base, a more permanent solution can be found.
Why laser diffraction is key to quality control
When manufacturing the critical components that are responsible for keeping planes in the air, quality control is vital. As such, one of the main issues additive manufacturers face is part certification. Characterizing and qualifying the raw feedstock materials is an important step toward successful certification. In particular, many AM processes use powders as feedstock, and a narrow and well-defined particle size distribution is essential to controlling the powder’s behavior during production.
That’s where the Mastersizer 3000 comes in. Along with several other Malvern Panalytical technologies, this laser diffraction system is cited as an approved method to characterize metal powders in ISO/ASTM 52907:2019 (a key standard for metal powder-based AM processes).
Getting to grips with the Mastersizer 3000
At RAF Wittering, four colleagues are already learning how to put the Mastersizer 3000’s capabilities into practice! Craig, Mike, Damo, and Russ are technicians by trade. Between them, they have over 60 years of experience repairing Harrier, Typhoon, Tornado, and Hercules jets. However, in recent years, they’ve made the transition to AM, exploring how this novel manufacturing approach can become part of the RAF’s core practices.
After purchasing a Mastersizer 3000, these colleagues recently attended one of Malvern Panalytical’s in-person classroom training events. During this course, they quickly got to grips with running measurements and assessing the particle size distribution of one of their feedstock materials. They told us that they were impressed with how easy it was to use the kit, despite not having scientific backgrounds!
With this training under their belts, Craig and his team plan to use the Mastersizer 3000 as the ultimate wingman to monitor the quality of their feedstock material. In this way, they’ll be able to produce first-class replacement parts – and help more fighter jets return home safely.
Curious?
Want to find out more about how our technologies can support additive manufacturers and material suppliers? Download our white paper or visit our dedicated web page!