3D-printing

A new process for 3D-printing things could pave the way for lighter, faster aircraft that potentially fly further on the same amount of fuel. Today's aeroplanes are held together with thousands of metal rivets and fasteners. That's because the lightweight but strong aluminium alloys used for their frames are considered unweldable. Try to weld them and you get a phenomenon called hot-cracking, in which the finished alloy weakens and fractures as it cools. This and other adverse welding effects also stand in the way of 3D-printing high-strength aluminium alloy parts. When researchers have tried, the resulting laser-fused mass flakes away at the welding area like a stale biscuit.