Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology is experiencing increasing interest and strong growth, particularly for large format applications in the space and aerospace sector. To help understand robustness of scalability, TWI took lead in the Open Architecture Additive Manufacturing (OAAM) project to develop and demonstrate DED equipment capabilities to support the manufacture of large metallic components, all for the benefit of UK Aerospace.

This presentation will summarise the project, then introduce two case studies using laser and blown powder DED; (1) a gas turbine engine casing; and (2) rocket nozzle. Attention will focus on path planning, post machining, near net shape capabilities, the relevance of thermal induced distortion and the effect of different build orientations on material properties.