We just acquired an Ultra High Resolution 3D laser printer.This printer is able to produce a theoretical resolution of 3 micron dots. I have made a print of the 1/7 scale Rafale Ultra Scale strut to this resolution.Enjoy the details...

Here is the full nose strut.




And a detail of the steering actuator valve with a view of the 0.3 mm hexagonal screw:




And a view of the detail on the CAD:






That should also give you an idea on the number of hours I spend on these designs. All CAD drawn feature by feature from the pictures of the real thing. Hundreds of hours of drawing....

Wow, I'm super excited about 3d printing so many good things for our hobby! I'm planning to buy a small one for little projects like cockpits and small mounts.

Very Nice Oli!, the technology is amazing, im waiting for a home version of a metal printer.

speaking of which, what are your thoughts on the stainless steel printed parts from shapeways? Apparently they are infused with 40% bronze. I have been wondering if they would be sufficient in strength and low weight for landing gear components.

Wow Oli, that's GORGEOUS! Nice work!

No, I don't think so. Strength is OK, but density is very high.
Their aluminum is suitable though.

Thanks, Steve!

Interesting thanks! Ill have to order a few test pieces

One thing that has to be considered is how the grain/ metal growth is done. I do not think that SLA produced aluminum parts will be as strong as a CNC machined parts made from certified billets.
For example, my 3D printed carbon fiber parts are not as strong as proper laminate layups. So the CAD design has to incorporate a loss of 30% in stiffness and strength.

Understood. As it is now, some of the gear parts for the F14 are really over-engineered for a model using scales dimensions for bosses and such, plus i have a 4130 steel tube that is inserted into the main strut bodies to act as a oleo strut outer tube for wear minimalization. The gear is over-engineeres i believe.
The big issues is some of the parts (upper and lower strut yokes) require 6-10 jigs/fixtures for cnc machining. If these coule be 3D printed of sufficient strength, it could potentially reduce the manufacturing cost a good bit.

The large XB-70 im designing would also benefit as well.

Nice resolution. What are the material characteristics for this part?

Oli I am not sure that this is right. If the parts are made with laser sintering they are pretty much as strong as parts made from billet. Have a look at the con rods and auto transmission gears on this link.

https://www.mpif.org/DesignCenter/ca....asp?linkid=65

There is some surface treatment after they have been formed but that is no different to parts produced by traditional means.

I have had bronze inserts made for my moulds by metal sintering and they have taken a high polish and proved very durable.

John

A mix up of terms here. SLA is a photocuringresin process. SLS ( selective laser sintering ) is not real. Sintering is a below melt and high pressure metal powder process. Common in making automotive parts which is what the above link is about. The correct term for metal laser 3d printing is SLM ( selective laser melting). And yes the parts are full strength but only after post stress relieving since the SLS process introduces a lot of stresses in the part. Voids are possible so x-ray is needed for known quality. Cheap ones start at $50K.

The usual AlSi10Mg grade, SLM process.
The part looks great but strength is not as high as a 6016 billet CNC machined. In theory, SLM should achieve full melt. In practice, we have porosities and cracks at microscopic level.

A T6 treatment does remove most of these, but also significantly changes the part dimensions ( to beyond our accuracy requirements at least ).
I suppose that the best machines on the market can achieve that full melt but a 250k USD SLM 125 with 400W lasers does not...

Yep.
Both SLM and SLS require post production CNC machining to achieve high dimensional a accuracy ( in the real World at least ) after heat treatment.

I have not seen a reliable 50k SLM machine yet. More like 250 K to my knowledge, to get decent results...

Thanks for the correction in the terms. I will not be the only one confused! I have used SLA and SLS but not SLM.

John

Thanks for the correction in the terms. I will not be the only one confused! I have used SLA and SLS but not SLM.

John