Well, yes and no.
There are a lot of parts being made by AM that are going into regular production devices.
These tend to be fairly low volume applications such as jet engines (fuel nozzles).
And applications where being able to make a very complicated geometry and reduce part count justify the extremely high NDT costs.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

I think the days when a 100,000 lb hunk of steel is printed are a ways off yet:)

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

I think the phrase "high end" says it all. Unless 3D printing production rate comes close to equaling normal production rates, it will stay in the "high end" part of the market.

Reminds me of a bygone era when people thought they could skip the step of producing photolithographic plates to pattern semiconductor layers by directly writing on wafers with the same e-beam exposure process that made the photomasks in the first place. It turned out to be a complete nightmare. A typical lot of 25 wafers could be photomasked and processed in about an hour. It would take upwards of 8 hrs to do a single wafer with e-beam. Given that disparity, e-beam direct write on wafer died a painful death in the late 80s. Batch processing is the key to production efficiency, so single AM at a time is possibly doomed to niche products and "manufacturing."

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

I Wondered about that IR. I was in on some of the subsystem stuff but left before it got out in the wild. Hadn't seen any more about it in decades. Some companies must've ate it big-time on that.

John; I see 3D printer factories doing production.
#D factory in USA

China Factory

And, an aircraft production part:
Complex hinges etc

Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com

Several legacy parts that need replacement are being made by 3D printing. Recently I was at the GE additive centre and found several HP 3D printing machines .Everyone left the centre, with an impression that if HP has a presence, surely there exists a market for metal printing.

Well I use it to make patterns and coreboxes. But these are nowhere close to traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques.

"Even,if you are a minority of one, truth is the truth."

Mahatma Gandhi.

There's certainly a market for metal printing machines themselves, and likely a market for custom metal printing for obsolete and custom parts. It's unclear whether this will translate into mass market production.

The desire for semiconductor manufacturers to stay with UV photolithography also clobbered several companies attempting to build x-ray lithography systems. We had one such company down the street in Mtn View that lasted for a few years.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

The catch today with AM metal parts is that no one is running the process closed loop.
You don't know what you really have until you are done and test it.
No control of mechanical properties, grain structure, fatigue, no tracking of the locations of 'process deviations', or anything else.
Fuel nozzles are a great part because the 2 piece AM ones are better performing than the 40 piece machined and brazed ones. And the mechanical loads are very low.
I have seen some big parts made AM that are much lighter than the originals. So they went from a safety factor of 40 down to 25, saved weight, and took minimal risks.

Until someone can tell me what the grain structure and mechanical properties (in all directions) will be before they make the part, then I will have a hard time seeing this as anything other than 'special'.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

Ed,, I think, there is a Hard Tooling Committee formed under the ageis of AFS Additive Manufacturing. They are looking into standardization of parts and processes,, for there are very few .

I did raise the matter with a few members regarding structural integrity of parts, but the equipment and consumables manufacturers are very shrill and saner voices remain unheard!!

"Even,if you are a minority of one, truth is the truth."

Mahatma Gandhi.

Another step taken:

First metallic 3D printed part installed on F-22

https://www.hill.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Artic...

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

Thanks for referencing that. A perfect use for metal printing.

Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com