The world's first 3D printed jet drone

3D printing is finding more and more practical applications. We have already seen printed prostheses and a bunch of other interesting things. At the Dubai Airshow, the company Stratasys  and Aurora  showed a drone, which is interesting because it uses a jet engine and at the same time 80% of the parts are printed using a 3D printer. The technology of modeling by layer-by-layer deposition was used (Fused Deposition Modeling, FDM), which allows you to create strong and lightweight parts of large sizes.

According to the creators, thanks to the use of 3D printing, they managed to cut the time for creating a model and subsequent manufacturing by half.  The drone weighs 15 kg (33 lb), has a three-meter wingspan (9 ft) and can reach speeds of up to 240 km/h (150 mph). The fuselage is printed in nylon, while the jet exhaust is printed in metal.

The fuselage was made the longest: 9 days, wings, nozzles, fuel tank and other small parts were made at the same time, they took from several days to several hours.

Source: Gizmag