Aerospace and defence supplier Marotta Controls has integrated metal 3D printing technology into its portfolio of services.
The company has decided to invest in powder bed fusion technology after validating its viability during the creation of internal features within an advanced manifold valve. With metal 3D printing, Marotta Controls was able to generate nuanced radial passages in various geometries that aren’t possible to achieve with traditional machine boring methods and delivered increased velocity pressure control. Marotta also sees opportunities to reduce parts, simplify assembly and shorted lead times with additive manufacturing.
Founded in 1943, Marotta Controls is a fully-integrated company which designs, develops, manufactures and qualifies systems and sub-systems for the aerospace and defence markets. Priding itself as a company that has always pushed the envelope with regards to manifold design and manufacture, Marotta identified 3D printing as a technique that could potentially enhance radial passages, thus improving the performance of manifolds. Typically, valves and manifolds are manufactured via machining, with boring tools being used to remove unwanted material to construct radial passages within a single metal block.
Using 3D printing, the company is now able to produce a single-pieced component with three-dimensional passage structures that can vary in shape, with diamond, horizontal dome, spindle and branch-like options available. Marotta is said to have evaluated its 3D valve concept in more than a dozen design configurations with varying passage structures, returning ‘notable improvements’ in velocity and the overall manifold’s performance.
“We have a near 80-year culture of creative thinking, of challenging the status quo. And we’re proud to confirm that that mindset resulted in a remarkable evolution to a tried-and-true part used for generations,” commented Brian Fly, Vice President Marine Systems, Marotta Controls. “Additive manufacturing offers some very interesting opportunities that we’re inherently designed to embrace on behalf of our customers. We anticipate more unique, disruptive innovations to come out of this capability as we continue to apply it.”