14 DAY TRIAL // Airplanes might not factor into our thoughts nearly as often as, say, cars and motorbikes, but that doesn't mean the ones making and researching them are any less diligent in their quest for progress.
Case in point, General Electric (GE) intends to use 3D printing to make more than 85,000 fuel nozzles for its new Leap jet engines, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It doesn't have the facilities or manpower yet, but it has decided to invest in the endeavor.
Normally, the nozzles are made out of 20 different parts, through additive manufacturing.
Through 3D printing, the units could be created from a single metal piece instead, through successive material layering.
It would be a faster, more streamlined process, and would also need less equipment, and wouldn't be as complicated in the end. In fact, the 3D printed products would also be lighter and stronger than those from assembly lines, withstanding temperatures (up to 2,400 degrees F / 1,315 degrees C) inside an engine with no problems.
Maybe we'll see the day when plane travel won't be as expensive as now. Then again, fuel determines most of the price, and it's been getting pricier. Alas.