Helicopter project of our customer
Murdtfeldt Additive Solutions GmbH
24. April 2024, MM (Maschinenmarkt)

With the so-called VFGF process (Variable Fused Granulate Fabrication) from Q.Big 3D, even oversized plastic parts can be 3D printed. Here is the proof …

Would you have thought that this helicopter cockpit came from a 3D printer?However, the VFGF (Variable Fused Granulate Fabrication) process makes large component printing possible.The printer for this is called Queen 1 and comes from Q.Big 3D.

Additive manufacturing of oversized plastic parts offers enormous advantages for the tool-free production of small and medium-sized series, according to the company. The key to this is the VFGF (Variable Fused Granulate Fabrication) process from Q.Big 3D. Reiser Simulation and Training GmbH from Berg near Starnberg commissioned a full-flight simulator (FFS) of helicopters for this purpose. Murtfeldt Additive Solutions GmbH (Murtfeldt AS) from Kusterdingen was ultimately tasked with manufacturing a modular cockpit, which was then printed on a Queen 1 system from Q.Big 3D at Murtfeldt. The tool-free production with a 3D extrusion printer enables fast time-to-market strategies.

The advantages of the VFGF process for large components

The elimination of tooling costs and new strategies for component geometry in the design meet an extremely short amortisation period for the system technology. The special highlight compared to other additive manufacturing options (such as FDM printers) is the use of commercially available standard plastic pellets. This means that no plastic filaments are required. The aim of the additive manufacturing project for the Reiser helicopter cockpit at Murtfeldt AS was to overcome the previous limitations of conventional manufacturing processes with a modern laser sintering strategy (SLS). Traditional mould-based processes, especially for large-volume components, incur high tooling costs and long lead times. Conventional FDM (fused deposition modelling) printers are also usually unable to produce components that are too large because the build rates are uneconomical and the plastic filament can cost seven times more per kilogramme than standard granulate. For this reason, the company opted for a Queen 1 from Q.Big 3D, which is available at Murtfeldt AS for oversized SLS components. According to the companies involved, such a project can be completed within 3 and 6 months.

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