Additive Manufacturing is a great opportunity for the aerospace industry thanks to its potential to reduce the cost and environmental footprint (through the reduction of material waste and machining cost) and to target complex geometries and/or more integrated parts. Additive Manufacturing is particularly of interest to produce parts made of expensive materials like titanium alloys, even up to the scale of an aircraft component, while reducing the cost and lead time for development. These last years, AM processes were developed to reach a technical and industrial maturity that allowed to implement it on the first airworthy applications and pave the way towards more critical applications.

The goal of the presentation is to present main advantages and characteristics of the technologies investigated by Airbus, to highlight the state-of the-art and to show the Airbus vision. It will also address the main challenges faced (particularly regarding quality control aspects, material qualification and certification) and provide a first feedback on the first applications implemented by Airbus.