Selective Laser Sintering

Roadmap Overview

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is a disruptive innovation transforming traditional manufacturing. Unlike subtractive methods, which remove material from a large block, 3D printing builds parts layer by layer, creating intricate designs previously impossible to manufacture. This technology has significantly reduced the time and complexity involved in assembly, allowing parts to be made on demand without sourcing from distant suppliers. By streamlining the prototyping process, 3D printing accelerates innovation and lowers costs, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing product development waste. This technology has also changed cost structures in manufacturing by eliminating the need for large-scale, non-recurring investments in molds, tools, and setups. Industries such as aerospace, automotive, and healthcare have benefited from 3D printing's ability to produce lightweight, complex designs, like Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbo Fan engine components and GE's 3D-printed fuel nozzles. With its potential to minimize waste and support sustainability, 3D printing continues to disrupt supply chains and enable mass customization across various sectors.

Design Structure Matrix (DSM) Allocation

The 2-SEA tree that we can extract from the DSM above shows us that the Solar-Electric Aircraft (2SEA) is part of a larger company-wide initiative on electrification of flight (1ELE), and that it requires the following key enabling technologies at the subsystem level: 3CFP Carbon Fiber Polymers, 3HEP Hybrid Electric Propulsion and 3EPS Non-Propulsive Energy Management (e.g. this includes the management of the charge-discharge cycle of the batteries during the day-night cycle). In turn these require enabling technologies at level 4, the technology component level: 4CMP components made from CFRP (spars, wing box, fairings …), 4EMT electric machines (motors and generators), 4ENS energy sources (such as thin film photovoltaics bonded to flight surfaces) and 4STO (energy storage in the form of lithium-type batteries).

Roadmap Model using OPM

We provide an Object-Process-Diagram (OPD) of the 2SLS roadmap in the figure below (Fig.4-1). This diagram captures the main object of the roadmap (SLS 3D printing), its various instances that are famous in the industry, its decomposition into subsystems (laser unit, supply container, bed plate system …), its characterization by Figures of Merit (FOMs) as well as the main 3D printing processes (modeling, printing, post-processing).

An Object-Process-Language (OPL) description of the roadmap scope is auto-generated and given below.

Figures of Merit

The table below show a list of FOMs by which solar electric aircraft can be assessed. The first four (shown in bold) are used to assess the aircraft itself. They are very similar to the FOMs that are used to compare traditional aircraft which are propelled by fossil fuels, the big difference being that 2SEA is essentially emissions free during flight operations. The other rows represent subordinated FOMs which impact the performance and cost of solar electric aircraft but are provided as outputs (primary FOMs) from lower level roadmaps at level 3 or level 4, see the DSM above.

Besides defining what the FOMs are, this section of the roadmap should also contain the FOM trends over time dFOM/dt as well as some of the key governing equations that underpin the technology. These governing equations can be derived from physics (or chemistry, biology ..) or they can be empirically derived from a multivariate regression model. The table below shows an example of a key governing equation governing (solar-) electric aircraft.