Page 59 - PCMI Journal July 2018

David Allen | Emeritus Professor | Cranfield University | UK Photochemical Machining of Aerospace Materials
5/31/18
Benefits of ALM (Additive Layer Manufacture) with PCM
• Material integrity unaffected
• Zero porosity and full density
• No additional processing, such as ‘hipping’ required
• Quicker than conventional Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)
• Suitable for end-use applications with very high temperatures
Final summary and conclusion
• PCM has long been considered as “Manufacturing's Best Kept Secret” utilised by leading companies to gain differentiation or competitive advantage
• The process has some distinct advantages over conventional metal machining processes
• PCM is ideally suited to aerospace metals as it does not affect the properties of the materials
• There are a handful of ‘hard-to-machine’ etching specialists who are set-up and have suitable experience to handle these challenging materials
Issue 131 July 2018 PCMI Journal 58
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