Where does metal additive manufacturing add value to the aerospace and defense industry? Moog has been exploring this question since 2011. Moog’s products are utilized in mission critical applications like steering a missile or keeping a satellite in orbit. The requirements that accompany these applications are some of the most arduous in the industry. To meet our customer’s needs we developed an additive manufacturing strategy to mature processes to a point of field reliability. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) metal additive technology was the best fit for us because of the dimensional resolution and surface finish requirements our products demanded.
Moog built additive expertise internally: this was a significant investment of training, resources and capital. The strategy also included having a centralized knowledge base that can serve Moog’s businesses globally. Moog proudly serves multiple industries, however our diverse customer base brings unique challenges to the additive team. In 2018, Moog further invested in the technology by establishing a full vertically-integrated Additive Manufacturing Center (AMC) that can produce additive-qualified production parts. The AMC has the capability to design, print, final machine and analyze additive manufactured parts within the center.