Pratt & Whitney Printing Engine Parts

Velo3D and Pratt & Whitney (P&W) under Raytheon Technologies are partnering to explore 3D printing jet engine components. The aerospace manufacturer has purchased an end-to-end solution from Velo3D to evaluate the Sapphire printer for manufacturing jet engine components, which includes a new Sapphire XC 3D printer at the Raytheon Technologies Research Center. The Center is the company’s hub for engineers, scientists, and researchers to develop new technologies. The Sapphire XC coming in is calibrated to print in Inconel 718, a nickel-based superalloy suited for extreme temperatures.

P&W has experience working with additive manufacturing (AM) technologies across various platforms and applications. Raytheon is a launch participant of President Biden’s AM Forward initiative, a new program encouraging companies to explore uses for AM. Raytheon will seek small-medium-enterprise manufacturers’ involvement in over 50% of its requests for quotes on products manufactured using additive technologies, as well as simplifying and accelerating the procurement process of AM parts.