Pratt & Whitney to deliver engine parts using additive manufacturing

East Hartford, CT - Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. company (NYSE:UTX), will deliver its first PurePower PW1500G engines to aerospace company Bombardier this year. The new engines will feature entry-into-service jet-engine parts produced using additive manufacturing.

PurePower PW1500G engines will exclusively power the Bombardier CSeries aircraft family. The company will use additive manufacturing technology to produce compressor stators and synch ring brackets for the production engines.

In production tests, the company has realized up to 15 months in lead-time savings compared to conventional manufacturing processes and up to 50% weight reduction in a single part. PurePower engine family parts will be the first product produced using 3D printing powder-bed additive manufacturing.

Related manufacturing technologies that will be used in the PurePower engine production include metal injection molding, electron beam melt, and laser powder-bed fusion (including direct-metal laser sintering).

The company and the University of Connecticut are also collaborating to advance additive manufacturing research and development. The Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center is the first of its kind in the Northeast region to work with metal powder-bed technologies. With more than $4.5 million invested, the center will further advance the company's additive manufacturing capabilities, while providing educational opportunities for the next generation of manufacturing engineers.

For more information, please visit www.pratt-whitney.com.