Additive Manufacturing Advances in Aviation and Medical Fields
Additive manufacturing (AM) is reshaping both aviation and medical technology by enabling designs that balance sustainability, performance, and individualization. In aviation, the mass of components directly influences fuel consumption and CO? emissions, making lightweight structures a priority. AM’s design freedom allows engineers to create load path–optimized geometries, achieving high strength with minimal material use. Sandwich structures, long valued for their weight-specific properties, are now being enhanced through modular hybrid designs, where panels are tailored to local load demands. By integrating reinforcements directly into the core, AM minimizes interfaces and improves load transfer.
One notable example is an aircraft cabin partition designed using Direct Energy Deposition (DED). This process, coupled with a robotic arm, accommodates large build envelopes. Material choice and orientation are critical; for stainless steel 1.4057/X17CrNi16-2, anisotropy dictates stress limits. Topology optimization connected functional areas under constraints from CS-25 safety standards, resulting in a partition weighing approximately 44 kg—significantly lighter than conventional 60 kg designs. Post-processing reduced stress peaks, and all load introduction points were structurally integrated.
Another aviation application focuses on optimizing load introduction points in sandwich structures. Using numerical optimization, engineers integrated these points into the core, ensuring global mechanical properties while reinforcing locally. A redesigned pull-out test fixture, supporting specimens at corners rather than clamping circularly, allowed optimization across the entire structure. Stereolithography-printed specimens from Clear Resin demonstrated a 95% increase in stiffness and 103% improvement in maximum force compared to reference designs.
In medical technology, AM’s capacity for patient-specific and anatomically accurate models supports training, quality assurance, and device validation. The Hamburg Anatomical Neurointerventional Simulator (HANNES) exemplifies this, simulating neurovascular diseases with real instruments in a clinical environment. Modular vessel models, derived from medical imaging data, can replicate conditions such as aneurysms, strokes, and stenoses.
Within the COSY-SMILE project, HANNES was extended to simulate stroke treatment. SLA printing on Formlabs Form3, using Elastic Resin, produced modular aortic arch models with varying curvatures to challenge trainees. CT data was segmented, reconstructed in CAD, and adapted with connectors for seamless integration. Printing required about 30 hours, followed by IPA washing and UV curing. Functional models, such as stenoses, were engineered to open upon treatment, using shells and force-applying components printed in Clear Resin, combined with flexible vessel materials.
AM also enables advanced medical phantoms for imaging and radiotherapy. A deformable bladder model was created for a pelvic phantom to study prostate irradiation. CT data informed the bladder’s CAD design, which incorporated filling interfaces. Silicon with Shore hardness 33 replicated tissue elasticity and X-ray absorption. An SLA-printed clear resin mold and an FDM-printed PVA core—with a gyroid structure for washout—were assembled, filled with pigmented silicon, cured, and the core dissolved. This model allowed clinicians to assess how bladder volume changes affect prostate positioning during treatment.
For fusion-guided prostate biopsies, a multi-part AM mold produced anatomically accurate prostates with customizable lesions. MRI data defined the prostate’s geometry, while lesion pins created recesses for agarose-based surrogates, adjusted with additives for visibility in MRI and ultrasound. SLA-printed molds ensured precision, and the resulting phantoms provided realistic imaging and tactile feedback, enabling trainees to confirm biopsy accuracy through visible pigment markers.
Across both fields, AM delivers high geometric freedom, localized reinforcement, and individualized production. In aviation, it supports lightweight, structurally efficient designs that reduce lifecycle emissions. In medicine, it produces models that replicate complex anatomical and functional properties, enhancing training and research. Direct and indirect AM methods—printing parts outright or creating molds for tissue-equivalent casting—expand the range of achievable designs, from rigid aircraft components to soft, deformable organ models.
