波音採 3D 列印製造鈦零件，將可節省數百萬美元 Boeing 3D printing and manufacturing titanium parts will save millions of dollars

航空業競爭激烈，尤其是此前波音曾被川普嫌太貴退單，如何降低成本變成航空業的燃眉之急。與波音合作的挪威 3D 金屬列印公司表示，若使用其技術列印的鈦合金零件，將可讓每台飛機的造價降低 300 萬美元。

The aviation industry is fiercely competitive, especially since Boeing was once too expensive to be refunded by USA Donald John Trump. How to reduce costs has become an urgent need for the aviation industry.

眾所皆知，現代的大型航空器為了兼顧強度與重量以及其他必要的金屬參數，通常都會採用鈦合金，然而這並不是便宜的金屬，其造價比鋁合金高出 7 倍，據業內人士估計，打造客機光是鈦合金成本就高達 1,780 萬美元，所以波音公司一直以來想要克服這個問題，若能在這方面有領先突破，的確將增加波音對老敵手空中巴士的競爭力。

It is well known that modern large aircraft usually use titanium alloy in order to balance strength and weight with other necessary metal parameters. However, this is not a cheap metal, and its cost is 7 times higher than that of aluminum alloy. According to industry estimates, The cost of building a passenger aircraft is as high as $17.8 million. So Boeing has always wanted to overcome this problem. If there is a leading breakthrough in this area, it will indeed increase the competitiveness of Boeing against the old rival Airbus.

雖然通用電氣已經在用 3D 列印技術生產其發動機的金屬燃料噴嘴，但因強度問題，將此技術直接應用在飛機的結構零件上其實是很大的嘗試。近期，波音公司就與 Norsk Titanium 公司合作，為波音 787 Dreamliner 夢幻客機列印出鈦合金零組件。Norsk Titanium 是一家挪威 3D 金屬列印公司，其聲稱，假如使用 3D 列印技術將可降低波音 200 萬至 300 萬美元的製造成本。

Although GE has already produced metal fuel nozzles for its engines using 3D printing technology, it is a big attempt to apply this technology directly to structural parts of aircraft due to strength issues. Boeing recently partnered with Norsk Titanium to print titanium alloy components for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Norsk Titanium, a Norwegian 3D metal printing company, claims that the use of 3D printing technology will reduce the manufacturing cost of Boeing from $2 million to $3 million.

不過用 3D 列印技術所生產的零件強度，到底能否媲美原有的機械鍛造技術一直是關鍵問題。Norsk Titanium的營銷副總裁 Chip Yates 受訪時表示，他們與波音合作研發了一年多，並設計出 4 款 787 的零組件，並已獲得聯邦航空管理局（FAA）認證，且預計美國監管機構將於 2017 年末開始批准航空業採用 3D 印刷零件和生產流程。不過，波音公司目前尚未對此回應。

However, whether the strength of parts produced by 3D printing technology can match the original mechanical forging technology has always been a key issue. Chip Yates, vice president of marketing at Norsk Titanium, said that they have been working with Boeing for more than a year and have designed four 787 components that have been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and are expected to be US regulators. The adoption of 3D printed parts and production processes in the aviation industry will begin in late 2017. However, Boeing has not yet responded to this.

Chip Yates 強調，若 Norsk Titanium 未來能為每架波音 787 打印所有數千個零件，不再需要一件件單獨審批，將會使其製造成本大幅降低。預計從 2018 年將會開始更廣泛的使用此技術，這也表示 3D 列印技術開始被工業採納，以取代傳統的昂貴鍛造工藝。

Chip Yates emphasizes that if Norsk Titanium can print all of the thousands of parts for each Boeing 787 in the future, it will no longer require a separate approval, which will significantly reduce its manufacturing costs. The wider use of this technology is expected from 2018, which also means that 3D printing technology has begun to be adopted by industry to replace the traditional expensive forging process.

文章來源：https://finance.technews.tw/2017/04/11/boeing-3d-printing-to-manufacture-titanium-parts-will-save-millions-of-dollars/