A few days ago, Boeing announced the launch of two new projects to build hypersonic aircraft with speeds of more than Mach 5, about 3800 miles per hour.
The first project was conducted jointly by Boeing and Powdermet to demonstrate the near net shape manufacturing of metal matrix composite components for hypersonic vehicle demonstration.
The second project was carried out by Boeing in cooperation with RPM Innovations and Intelligent Optical Systems to develop and validate a set of on-site process monitoring sensors and nondestructive evaluation methods for laser directed energy deposition (L-DED) applications. The sensor is designed to eliminate the need for current post process quality verification methods, which are time-consuming and expensive. On the other hand, in-process monitoring will help to reflect the quality of construction in the process, saving time and expensive metal powder.
Austin Mann, metallurgical/material engineer of Boeing Research and Technology, said: "These projects will benefit the entire U.S. manufacturing base and help stimulate technological development from material manufacturers to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)."
Taisia Lou, senior engineer of additive manufacturing of Boeing Company, is the person in charge of the second project. He added: "It is very important for our national security to develop cost-effective methods for reliable and rapid production of hypersonic components, and these projects will lead us to this path."
These projects are part of the hypersonic challenge released by LIFT last year. LIFT is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense, industry and academia, which aims to enable the United States to build hypersonic aircraft faster and more economically.
Source: OFweek
