Ascent Aerospace, a US provider of tooling and automation systems for the aerospace industry, has announced its large-format 3D printing capabilities are now fully operational at its facility in Santa Ana, California.

The company announced its investment in the large-format additive manufacturing (AM) system from Thermwood back in 2019 in a bid to bring the advantages of AM to the aerospace tooling sector. Michael Mahfet, CEO of Ascent Aerospace described the purchase as a “milestone in Ascent’s multi-year technology roadmap and realisation of expansive efforts studying the benefits of additive manufacturing within the aerospace tooling market.” Now, co-located with Ascent's composite tooling shop, autoclave and clean room, Ascent Aerospace believes this machine will significantly speed up the time to market for tools such as low-temperature layup moulds, masters, trimming/drilling fixtures and vacuum holding fixtures, compared to traditional metallic tooling methods.

With a huge 10 x 40 ft build area, Ascent Aerospace says the machine will provide customers in aerospace, automotive, maritime, energy and others the opportunity to benefit from large-scale 3D printed composite tooling. The machine can print "near net shape" parts at speed in a variety of materials such as ABS, Polycarbonate, Nylon, and PESU, which are then machined to their final size and shape. Ascent Aerospace plans to host a live webinar next month as a virtual launch event for the machine.

This installation represents Ascent Aerospace's ongoing activity in the AM market. Earlier this year the company announced the signing of a partnership with Australian metal AM company Titomic to explore the use of AM to address challenging aerostructure assembly requirements. At the time, Mahfet commented that investments and partnerships such as this in AM would allow the company “to remain the leader in new and innovative tooling solutions.” The two-phase partnership will see Titomic deliver an Ascent Aerospace, customer approved, Invar36 tool printed on the TKF9000 system for testing and feasibility trials. The two will then form a joint-sales strategy for the supply of aerospace tooling using TKF to reduce lengthy lead times.

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