Metal additive manufacturing of commercial aerospace components – A comprehensive review

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has matured and grown from its infancy in the research stage to the fabrication of new and advanced components for its supreme applications. AM is a lead for the advanced manufacturing processes with an increased and advanced potential to revolutionize the manufacturing domain. It could exhibit a progressive change in the project and design paradigms. In the past decade, the use of metal AM process in the aerospace industry to build, repair various components for military applications and several outer space vehicle fabrications have occupied higher potential among various other manufacturing industries. In addition to it, many studies have made it a more versatile, common, and safer technology for the design and fabrication of components with the introduction of novel processes, materials, technologies, cost efficiency, and process design. In the present review article, the use of advanced aluminum alloys in the AM of fuselage, horizontal stabilizer, and high and low wings has gained increased advantages in the aerospace industry. Various components of wings and fuselage with its merits and demerits in AM processing are discussed. The outstanding issues in AM process and steps to overcome with post-processing techniques are elaborated. Finally, the future scope and research directions of the AM process involved in the fabrication of selected components are discussed.