The General Electric Aviation Division conducted a full test of the turboprop engine, which was printed on a 3D printer. Thanks to modern technology, the time to develop a new engine could be reduced from ten to two years, and the number of parts to reduce from 855 to 12.
The engine was developed for the Cessina Denali aircraft from Textron Aviation. Two years ago, the developers decided to print a full-featured engine and have since moved far - now only a few final tests are left.
This is not just another printed experiment. For us, the creation of a printed engine is a turning point, because we have moved from design and development and have almost successfully completed the entire test cycle of a fully functional engine.
A third of the engine is a titanium part printed on a 3D printer. Reducing the number of parts from 855 to 12 allowed to reduce the mass of the engine by 45 kilograms and reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. Increased capacity - engineers noted a 10-percent increase in comparison with the usual engine of the aircraft.
After the tests finally show the efficiency of the printed engine, it will only be certified, after which you can safely run them into batch production.
