Design of Thin Sheet Ti-6AI/4V Firewalls using Laser Additive Manufacturing

The generation of sample firewall sections using Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) with titanium 6/4 demonstrated new possibilities but also introduced new challenges. Concerns with contamination of the metal due to heating in atmosphere, grain issues from rapid cooling, and warping due to local heating were addressed using coupon test articles. The process' validity was ultimately proven through evaluation of manufactured panel sections. The structural efficiency of the unique configurations now achievable with additive manufacturing would benefit from updated analysis methods. These new analysis methods need to be more physics based than previous techniques given that additive manufacturing geometric configurations can be much more varying than conventional sheet metal construction. The new additive manufacturing methods reviewed for titanium rotorcraft firewall construction were found to be very promising. Design optimization, analysis methods, and repair possibilities have all been evaluated and are discussed. It was found that the new additive techniques can provide a valuable addition to current conventional manufacturing possibilities as long as care is taken to develop and control processing parameters to assure component integrity and that designs are supported with more physics based analysis methods to achieve high structural efficiencies.