Giant GE built 12,000 square meters of additive manufacturing research center
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It is reported that this additive manufacturing research center is located in Findlay Township, Pennsylvania, USA, with a total cost of 32 million US dollars, a total area of ​​125,000 square feet (nearly 12,000 square meters), with 50 engineers, the center is mainly used for training upgrades. Designers and engineers use additive manufacturing to design and produce, and will work closely with nearby Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh, which also have extensive research in 3D printing. experience.
GE's positioning of this additive manufacturing research center is a testing ground for the group to explore the potential of 3D printing.
"We are making a big bet on the next big bet. The gambling is that additive manufacturing is not a flash in the pan." Greg Morris, director of additive manufacturing at GE Aviation, said that this should be a big encouragement for many industry professionals. He thinks 3D printing is currently It is still a very young tool, but it also has a very strong subversive ability. "In the future, we will manufacture various parts in this way. Now we train people and establish recognition about 3D printing throughout the company. Know that engineers need to realize that they will use a very powerful tool."
According to the plan, the research center will open in the first quarter of 2016. It has various types of 3D printers that can handle plastic and metal materials. The original intention of establishing this research center, Morris explained, using a centralized technology center. It is more economical and efficient to purchase your own 3D printing devices from each GE unit. GE companies can use the technology of the Pennsylvania Center to perform their tasks.
GE Vice Chairman Dan Heintzelman confirmed the significance of its existence when the research center was opened last year. He said: "Advanced manufacturing is driving a profound change in industry and GE. This is GE's future competition. In order to win, we can develop and manufacture products for our customers more effectively, while at the same time bringing more profits to our investors. This center is crucial to bringing advanced manufacturing technology to all of our business areas."
The additive manufacturing center that was established in Pennsylvania this time is the sixth advanced manufacturing center that GE has established in the past two years. The other five under construction centers include Greenville (Power and Water Business Group), Asheville (Aviation Group), Auburn (Aviation Group), Jacksonville (Oil & Gas Group) and Rutland (Aviation Group). Dan Heintzelman described the huge benefits that these huge investments have brought to GE: The company recently invested $75 million in Rutland to use the latest advanced manufacturing technology for jet engine production, saving GE Aviation Group $300 million in costs. . At the same time, the company also saw the possibility of further similar benefits in other areas, and the above series of expansions is a reflection of this idea.
Currently, GE Aviation has begun using additive manufacturing equipment for their CFM LEAP jet engine 3D printing fuel nozzles. This complex part originally had to be assembled from 20 different parts and can now be printed at once. Roots will produce 40,000 3D print nozzles per year in the GE plant in Auburn, Alabama. 
Fuel nozzle for a 3D printed LEAP engine
3D printing enables designers to create jet engine combustor components like this, which is very difficult to achieve with traditional machines.