Ingersoll MasterPrint reported that it has achieved full vacuum integrity on a large 3D printed aerospace composite layup tool without any sealant or coating.

The tool measures 3.0m x 1.0m x 1.5m, is made of autoclave capable Dahltram I-350CF from Airtech Advanced Materials Group, and weighs 950 lbs. Its hollow structure was printed in just 20 hours to near net shape and then 5-axis machined with MasterPrint milling module to its final aerospace profile in less than 25 hours.

Developed for additive manufacturing of complex geometry, durable, wide and high, thermoplastic parts, MasterPrint is Ingersoll Machine Tools’ new family of Additive Manufacturing equipment that provides companies with the ability to seamlessly program, simulate, 3D print and mill extra-large composite parts in a single piece.

The MasterPrint process has disrupted and transformed the traditional way to procure and manufacture extra-large tools by shortening the lead time from months to weeks and reducing manufacturing cost by 90% (no cutting, no welding, stress relieving, minimal milling and assembly). The machines can be used fast-prototyping provisional tools for short programs and pre-production runs overprinting, re-milling, improving, re-using existing 3D printed tools choosing and 3D- rinting the polymers most suitable for a specific application.