High disposal costs and low material efficiency of maintenance and repair processes are confronted with increasing resource scarcity and the demand for environmentally friendly aviation. The research project ORAM (Certified recyclates for aviation – Overhaul and Recycling of interior parts with Additive Manufacturing of high-performance polymer) aims to reduce emissions in the design and maintenance of the aircraft cabin by utilizing high-performance polymers and reintegrating them into the material cycle, thereby counteracting future raw material shortages. The project is based on an innovative approach that aims to keep the used polymers in the material cycle long-term through the coupling of recycling and additive manufacturing.
ORAM examines the processing of end-of-life components from the aircraft cabin into high-quality recyclates along the end-to-end chain, which are to be reintegrated into the high-performance material cycle of aviation with high material efficiency through additive manufacturing processes. The insights gained from the project will contribute to the further development of additive manufacturing concepts, such as the development of intelligent extrusion solutions, which should also enable previously non-certifiable material classes to be utilized for aviation.
A central milestone of the project has now been reached: The Federal Aviation Office (LBA) has officially approved the production cell for additive manufacturing, created at the Machine Tool Laboratory WZL of RWTH Aachen University in cooperation with Aviation AM Centre GmbH (AAMC) from Düsseldorf, as a P21G production facility under the Production Organization Approval DE.21G.0204 of AAMC. This gives RWTH Aachen University, within the framework of the ORAM project, one of the few P21G-certified production facilities with additive manufacturing processes located in Germany. The approval was granted according to Part 21, Subpart G of the European aviation regulations and confirms the conformity of the manufacturing for aviation applications. The certified production cell is located at the RWTH Aachen University site, in the start-up factory on the RWTH Aachen Campus.
As part of the ORAM project, aviation-certified components can now be manufactured for the first time in polymer-based additive manufacturing. A Freeformer 750-3X HT from ARBURG GmbH + Co KG, designed for processing high-performance and high-temperature polymers, will be used for this purpose.
The achieved certification success is the result of close collaboration among all project partners. Special thanks go to the involved teams from RWTH Aachen University, Aviation AM Centre GmbH, Safran Cabin Germany GmbH, and ARBURG GmbH + Co KG, whose expertise and commitment have made this milestone possible. With the successful P21G approval, ORAM makes an important contribution to the certifiability of additive manufacturing, to the circular economy of high-performance polymers, and to more sustainable aviation.
ORAM is a research project funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the LuFo program.
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