Honeywell Receives £14+ Million to Accelerate Development of Aerospace Additive Manufacturing

This is good news for additive manufacturing in aerospace! The Honeywell group, leading a consortium comprising 3T Additive Manufacturing, BeyondMath, Qdot Technology, and the Oxford Thermofluids Institute, has just announced that it has received £14.1 million in funding from the UK government to accelerate its work. But what does this work involve? The goal is to understand how 3D technologies can be used for cabin pressurization systems in aircraft and environmental control systems. Additive manufacturing is not the only technology being studied: artificial intelligence should also help accelerate innovation and R&D. This R&D project, called STRATA, is funded through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) program.

Although this is a British project, it represents opportunities for the entire aerospace sector and proves that 3D printing, combined with other techniques, can have a significant impact. It is about changing the way aerospace components are designed and produced. Thanks to artificial intelligence, for example, the aim is to reduce the risk of errors through simulation models, which will also ultimately lead to better performance. With the addition of additive manufacturing, manufacturers will be able to reduce production times and waste rates, improving their profitability.

Example of a piece 3D printed by Honeywell

Sarah Jones, Minister of State for Industry, explains: “This is great news for Honeywell, and a good example of how government and business can work together to help keep the UK at the forefront of innovation in our world-class aerospace sector. We’re doubling down on this support through our modern Industrial Strategy – giving business the confidence it needs to invest in UK advanced manufacturing and delivering on our Plan for Change.”