Lufthansa Technik and Materialise develop Ti6Al4V AM latch for Airbus aircraft
Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg, Germany, has worked with Materialise, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, to produce a Ti6Al4V replacement for a polymer latch used in roller shutter assemblies on Airbus A330, A340 and A380 aircraft.
The project followed repeated in-service damage to the roller shutter assemblies, which was traced to the original polymer latch. The latch retains the roller brake and endcap within the roller shutter assembly, but according to the case study, it could not be purchased individually from the original equipment manufacturer. As a result, failure of the component could require replacement of the complete roller shutter assembly.
Lufthansa Technik therefore redesigned the latch for metal Additive Manufacturing to produce a replacement component separately from the complete assembly.
“The original part was an injection molded polymer component with a complex geometry,” stated David Rudolz, Project Engineer at Lufthansa Technik. “It was immediately identified as an ideal candidate for metal Additive Manufacturing.”
The redesign had to reproduce the function of the original polymer component while accounting for the different mechanical behaviour of Ti6Al4V. Lufthansa Technik stated that the elastic response of the titanium alloy, geometry and wall thickness of the redesigned latch were considered during development.
Following the selection of Ti6Al4V for the application, Lufthansa Technik chose Materialise to manufacture the component. Materialise subsequently underwent a supplier audit and was qualified by Lufthansa Technik for the production of metal Additive Manufacturing parts.
The two companies worked together on manufacturing requirements, process stability and production controls. Materialise states that the parts were manufactured in accordance with its EN 9100 certification and Lufthansa Technik’s design requirements, and are now certified for flight use and in service.
According to the companies, replacing the polymer component with the Ti6Al4V design is expected to increase the latch’s service life. The availability of the component as an individual replacement part also enables Lufthansa Technik to repair the roller shutter assembly rather than replace the complete unit.
Following the project, Materialise has also been named an official ‘workbench’ for metal parts by Lufthansa Technik.
