Munich, 7 April 2016 – Declaration of intent signed to found an international research and application centre for additive manufacturing processes with a focus on aerospace propulsion systems at the Ludwig Bölkow Campus (LBC). [ more... ]

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as industrial 3D printing, enables components with highly complex geometries to be built up layer by layer from metallic powder using a laser.

The signatories of the declaration of intent are made up of aerospace company Airbus Safran Launchers; engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines; EOS GmbH, the world’s leading company for technology and quality in the field of high-end AM solutions and a pioneer in the field of direct metal laser sintering (DMLS); Airbus Group Innovations; the Technical University of Munich with its Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb); the Fraunhofer Development Center for X-ray Technology (EZRT), a division of the Fraunhofer IIS; Airbus subsidiary APWorks; Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH (IABG); the Airbus Endowed Chair for Integrative Simulation and Engineering of Materials and Processes (ISEMP) of the University of Bremen; and the ESI Group, a pioneer and the world’s leading provider of virtual prototyping solutions. The Aerospace Factory’s management committee will consist of one representative from each partner and will be chaired by aerospace company Airbus Safran Launchers.

Based on the Ludwig Bölkow Campus’s three-pillar model, Aerospace Factory Additive Manufacturing will also run research and development projects, work to train and safeguard the next generation of skilled workers, and have Airbus subsidiary APWorks as a founding partner from the very beginning. Bavaria’s aerospace innovation system will therefore profit from a further excellent scientific and industrial partnership. Here, it is important to note that the cooperation partners haven’t only agreed to work on a research project, but will also be teaming up in a project centre with a ‘pilot factory’ on the Ludwig Bölkow Campus. This will also lead to investment in research and development.

The founding partners will cooperate along the entire value chain of component design, powder production, the additive manufacturing process including process simulation and post-processing along with quality control of the process and components, working both collaboratively and as part of national and international partnerships. In terms of materials science, the focus of the research on campus will be on the development of tailor-made materials for the 3D printing process. This will result in a holistic approach in industrial 3D printing for mission-critical propulsion components in the aerospace field. The priority here is to take the research results from the test environment and apply them in industrial production.

The Aerospace Factory is financed on the one hand by the partners themselves and on the other via national and international research and development contracts (e.g. the DLR Space Administration and ESA).

Jérôme Breteau, who manages the Future Launchers Preparatory Programme at ESA, outlines the enormous potential of 3D printing for ESA programmes, and concludes with the following: “Aerospace Factory Additive Manufacturing at the Ludwig Bölkow Campus will unlock the untapped potential of the additive manufacturing process for future propulsion components in the space industry.”

The ‘KonRAT’ (Rocket Propulsion Engine Components for Applications in Aerospace Transport Systems) project at the LBC, sponsored by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology, can already be considered an Aerospace Factory programme. As part of this project, the Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Science and the Arts supports the Technical University of Munich with acquiring the necessary large-scale scientific equipment at the Ludwig Bölkow Campus.

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 The Ludwig Bölkow Campus (LBC) was officially founded in March 2012 with the aim of establishing an international hub for ground-breaking innovations, new ways of thinking, and practical training in the aerospace and security industry. Located near Munich in Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen – which boasts one of the richest traditions of high technology in Germany – the campus is to serve as a place where science, education, and industry come together from all over the world in a creative environment that helps innovative ideas turn into real products. www.lb-campus.com

Airbus Group is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2015, the Group – comprising Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters – generated revenues of € 64.5 billion and employed a workforce of around 136,600.

The Airbus Endowed Chair for Integrative Simulation and Engineering of Materials and Processes (ISEMP) of the University of Bremen headed by Prof Ploshikhin is specialised in numerical process simulation and in recent years has developed into a competence centre for the simulation of additive manufacturing processes. The research work covers the entire additive process chain from the preparation of CAD geometry and preprocessing up to tempering at all scales. ISEMP develops simulation models and tools for quick distortion predictions as well as the calculation of microstructures, mesoscopic temperature fields and macroscopic component characteristics. www.isemp.de

EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems is the world’s leading technology and quality leader for high-end solutions in the area of additive manufacturing (AM). The company, which was founded in 1989, is a pioneer and global leader in the area of direct metal laser sintering, and also a provider of a leading polymer technology. For these industrial 3D printing processes, EOS offers a modular solutions portfolio that consists of systems, software, materials, as well as technical and AM consulting services. EOS is the partner of choice for industrial AM-based production, and provides long-term solutions for industry. Customers using these solutions are able to take advantage of a technology that is heralding a paradigm shift: light-weight structures, cost reductions based on functional integration, product customization and accelerated product development and production. www.eos.info

ESI Group has developed a comprehensive portfolio of interrelated and synchronised industry-oriented applications with which product behaviour can be realistically simulated in tests, manufacturing processes can be optimised to meet the desired product characteristics and the environmental impact on the product behaviour can be determined. ESI’s software solutions integrate into a unique collaborative and open end-to-end virtual prototyping environment. They implement the latest technologies – including immersive virtual reality, allowing products to be brought to life in 3D – and support customers’ decision-making during the entire product development process. The company employs over 1000 high-level specialists worldwide in more than 40 countries worldwide.

As a 100% subsidiary of Airbus Group, APWorks GmbH is familiar with modern manufacturing processes. It is a technical consultancy and a production facility for additive manufacturing. In addition to its main focus on additive manufacturing, APWorks markets innovative projects, ideas and technologies from the Airbus Group corporate research network. APWorks has been based at the Ludwig Bölkow Campus since 2013.

MTU Aero Engines AG is Germany’s leading engine manufacturer. The company is a technological leader in lowpressure turbines, high-pressure compressors, turbine center frames as well as manufacturing processes and repair techniques. In the commercial OEM business, the company plays a key role in the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-tech components together with international partners. Some 30 percent of today’s active aircraft in service worldwide have MTU components on board. In the commercial maintenance sector the company ranks among the top 5 service providers for commercial aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. The activities are combined under the roof of MTU Maintenance. In the military arena, MTU Aero Engines is Germany’s industrial lead company for practically all engines operated by the country’s military. MTU operates a network of locations around the globe; Munich is home to its corporate headquarters. In fiscal 2015, the company had a workforce of some 9,000 employees and posted consolidated sales of approximately 4.4 billion euros.

The creation of Airbus Safran Launchers opens a new chapter in the history of the launcher industry. Reflecting the joint ambition of Airbus Group and Safran to boost the European space industry to unscaled heights, our new company will develop innovative and competitive solutions by uniting the strengths of two leading contributors to modern launch vehicles. Airbus Safran Launchers is equally owned, combining Airbus Defence and Space’s expertise in launchers (especially in France and Germany), and Safran’s expertise in liquid and solid rocket propulsion.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of Europe’s leading research universities, with more than 500 professors, around 10,000 academic and non-academic staff, and 39,000 students. Its focus areas are the engineering sciences, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine, reinforced by schools of management and education. TUM acts as an entrepreneurial university that promotes talents and creates value for society. In that it profits from having strong partners in science and industry. It is represented worldwide with a campus in Singapore as well as offices in Beijing, Brussels, Cairo, Mumbai, San Francisco, and São Paulo. Nobel Prize winners and inventors such as Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde, and Rudolf Mößbauer have done research at TUM. In 2006 and 2012 it won recognition as a German ‘Excellence University.’ In international rankings, TUM regularly places among the best universities in Germany. www.tum.de

IABG is a closely networked business group and offers integrated, future-orientated solutions in the sectors Aeronautics • Space • Automotive • InfoCom • Mobility, Energy & Environment • Defence & Security. IABG was founded in 1961 as a central analysis and testing organisation for the aerospace industry and the Ministry of Defence as part of an initiative by the German government. Today, IABG is a leading European technology and science service provider. As part of their cooperation in the Research and Applications Centre for Additive Manufacturing Processes, IABG, as a partner institute of LBC GmbH, contributes its expertise on topics such as materials research, material analysis, non-destructive testing, licensing, and also process simulation, material and process data management and quality assurance in the entire process chain.

The Development Center for X-ray Technology (EZRT) is a division of the Fraunhofer IIS, Erlangen, in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (IZFP), Saarbrücken. Its activities focus on system development, X-ray sensorics and simulation, computed tomography, image processing, CT-assisted measuring technology as well as applications and training. The Development Center for X-ray Technology is an internationally leading research and development centre for industrial X-ray technology. It defines and extends the current state of the art in the field of non-destructive testing, in particular X-ray and optical testing techniques. It is positioned between basic research in the field of non-destructive imaging (X-ray and optical processes) and the industrial utilisation with end customers (in the shape of prototypes) and with system integrators (via licence business). Core competencies of the EZRT lie in the field of non-destructive testing along the entire material processing value chain starting with raw materials and ending with recycling. To consolidate the competitive position of the regional, national and international industry and to tap into new markets and fields of application, the Development Center for X-ray Technology develops application-orientated solutions right up to prototype and small-series manufacturing.

Munich Aerospace coordinates a research network of currently more than 150 scientists from the aerospace sector. The association was founded by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Universität der Bundeswehr (University of the Federal Armed Forces (UniBw)) the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Bauhaus Luftfahrt (BHL). Munich Aerospace has set itself the goal of connecting these four members via their research activities to increase the visibility of Munich as an aerospace location.

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