Boeing has just signed a contract with Norwegian company Norsk Titanium for its first structural 3D-printed titanium parts for use in its 787 Dreamliners, Reuters reports.

While 3D printing titanium may sound exotic, the move is actually a cost saving measure that Norsk Titanium estimates could save Boeing as much as $3 million per plane if Boeing takes to printing as many parts out of titanium as it can. But to begin with, Norsk will only print four different parts, after long negotiations and cooperation with both Boeing and the FAA. By 2018, the pair hope to expand the variety of parts printed for use in Boeings roughly 144 Dreamliners produced each year.

3D printing is by no means new to aviation. Last year GE opened an entire factory dedicated to the exploring the possibilities of printed metal which include projects like a 3D-printed turboprop for the new Cessna Denali and mini 3D-printed jet engines that actually spit fire. And the applications aren't limited to planes. NASA is working on a 3D-printed rocket engine, which is making great if slow progress.

It's useful shorthand to call these processes 3D-printing since that is how they functional practically—the tech allows for metal to be laid down in layers and built up additively, for a finished product that is a single part. But the actual tech is a little bit more like welding layers of metal dust very carefully. Or in Norsk's case, it's more like layers of titanium ribbon:

The end result are components that are robust because they involve fewer seperated parts than traditionally-machined components, potentially cheaper because they're built in one go, and potentially more complex since they can be constructed essentially from the inside out.

With only a handful of parts to start, the partnership between Boeing and Norsk is only at its very beginning but you can bet that this duo and other parings like it, will become increasingly common in aviation from here on out.

Source: Reuters