For decades, now, the aerospace and defence sectors have operated under an almost silent treaty with the laws of physics. As we have learned from a multitude of manufacturers in these sectors, this has involved accepting that the pursuit of complex, high-performance, lighter components that can be produced with additive manufacturing (AM), meant navigating a series of trade-offs across the workflow for production and post processing. The inherent benefit offered by metal AM lies in the ability to produce geometrically complex parts, that allowed for material (and therefore weight) reduction. The trade-off is the time and money required to post process these parts to reach the standards required.
Parts produced with laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) AM technologies are precise and well-proven, but they come with high residual stresses that have to be relieved. Traditional eBeam PBF produce parts accurately and quickly, but they are encased in a restrictive thermal ‘sinter cake,’ a semi-fused block of powder that turns part recovery into a gruelling, manual labour-intensive process that jeopardises repeatability.
At Wayland Additive, our NeuBeam process was engineered specifically to neutralize these physics-based constraints. By neutralizing the electron beam itself, we have eliminated the instability that once necessitated the sinter cake, allowing for a "hot part" process that maintains material integrity without the crushing weight of traditional post-processing lead times associated with stress relief and part removal. This represents a fundamental shift in the economics and metallurgy of flight-critical production. By neutralizing the electron beam at the point of interaction with the powder, we have effectively uncoupled the benefits of electron beam energy from the traditional baggage of powder bed instability. For aerospace and defence executives looking at the long-term strategic readiness of their fleet, this is not just a process improvement; it is a mandate to rethink what is possible with metal AM production.
Here's why:
Quantifiable Gains in Mass Reduction
When we consider the core target metrics of aerospace/defence engineering, specifically mass reduction and the "buy-to-fly" ratio, the limitations of legacy systems become even more apparent. For years, the industry has asked: what is the target weight reduction percentage for critical components? While internal lattices offer the theoretical answer, they were previously impossible to clear of powder when trapped within a sinter cake. NeuBeam changes this equation by enabling 95%+ powder recyclability and the creation of complex, internal geometries that emerge easily from free-flowing powder.
Solving the ‘Dream’ Material Dilemma
Another great challenge for AM across aerospace and defence applications is the narrow palette of qualified materials. Many of the alloys that offer the greatest promise for next-generation propulsion and hypersonics, including refractory metals like Tungsten or crack-prone superalloys, are notoriously difficult to process. L-PBF systems often produce a thermal gradient so steep that these materials crack upon cooling, while traditional eBeam PBF systems struggle with the stability required for consistent grain structure. We must ask: are we designing for the mission, or are we designing for the limitations of the AM production system? NeuBeam operates as a stable, high-temperature process (capable of exceeding 1000°C) that applies heat to the part, not the entire bed. This creates an environment where residual stresses are neutralized in real-time, allowing for the successful production of large-scale, crack-sensitive components that were previously deemed impossible, or, rather ‘unprintable’.
Open Approach
A further hurdle for AM adoption for aerospace/defence applications is the ‘black box’ nature of many legacy AM machines. Certification for flight-critical hardware requires total transparency and data-driven proof of quality. The NeuBeam platform is built on an open architecture, providing engineers with in-process monitoring and the ability to tailor metallurgical parameters to the specific needs of their application, all traceable. Is the current procurement strategy accounting for the risk of machine-to-machine variability? Or are you relying on the hope that a closed-loop system will catch every anomaly? By providing high-resolution monitoring and removing the instabilities of charge build-up, NeuBeam offers a repeatable, industrial-grade solution that fits within the rigorous qualification frameworks of the aerospace/defence industry.
Neutralising the Post-Processing Bottleneck
Truly understanding the multiple advantages that NeuBeam offers in terms of reduced post processing involves first considering the downstream barriers of the alternatives and how NeuBeam overcomes them.
The most time consuming and expensive post processes for metal AM parts that engineers (and their budgets) have to contend with are stress-relieving heat treatments and support removal with L-PBF and part extraction from the sinter cake with legacy eBeam systems. In both cases, the post processes required to achieved the required standards can negate the gains from using AM in the first place. Critically examining how many hours are currently spent on post-processing parts will bear testament to this. And, when we ask why lead times for critical components or structural brackets remain measured in weeks rather than days, the answer is invariably found here in the post processing bottleneck.
NeuBeam offers a pragmatic alternative that delivers parts in a near-net-shape state with significantly lower internal stress due to processing temperatures. Traditionally the powder bed for an eBeam process must be pre-heated and semi-sintered to manage the electrical charge of the electron beam. This is what results in the solid block of semi-fused powder (sinter cake) that entombs the finished part. For aerospace engineers, this is a logistical nightmare. How many design iterations have been killed because a complex internal lattice or a cooling channel could not be cleared of sintered powder? How many thousands of hours are lost to the manual blasting and mechanical removal required to liberate a part from its own build environment?
NeuBeam solves this issue by introducing positively charged ions into the vacuum chamber, which actively neutralizes the negative charge build-up on the powder surface. By eliminating the need for pre-sintering, we eliminate the sinter cake entirely. This transitions part recovery from a labour-intensive, dirty and costly post process to a rapid, free-flowing powder removal exercise.
The further implications for aerospace and defence metal AM applications are profound on multiple levels.
Redefining the Economics of Lead Times. The ultimate test of any manufacturing technology across the aerospace/defence landscape is the reduction of lead times and the optimisation of the supply chain. Eliminating the post processing barriers outlined above provides a pathway to rapid deployment that balances the speed of electron beam energy with the precision of a controlled, stable melt. This is the new standard: a data-driven, repeatable process that replaces manual toil with high-fidelity engineering, ensuring that the next generation of aerospace innovation is defined by what we can build, rather than what the physics of the process allows.
The ROI of Recyclability. The economic impact of material waste across the aerospace and defence sectors cannot easily be ignored either. In a typical eBeam PBF process, the powder used for the sinter cake is degraded, leading to scrap rates that are very high. This creates a hidden cost that bloats the "buy-to-fly" ratio. However, because the NeuBeam process does not sinter the surrounding powder, it achieves a recyclability rate of 95% or higher. For a 10 kg titanium or nickel-alloy part, this represents a massive reduction in raw material expenditure and a significant step toward sustainability goals. We are moving toward a reality where the cost of the part is driven by its engineering value, not by the amount of expensive powder we are forced to throw away.
Wayland Additive continues to break down barriers for the metal AM production of aerospace and defence applications.