Direct Manufacturing Implementation On the F-35 Program

Lockheed Martin has been investigating various forms of direct manufacturing technology for over ten years.  The wire-fed electron beam approach has shown the most promise for producing large structural titanium parts at high rate in a contamination-free environment.  The F-35 Program has decided to pursue a pilot implementation program using the electron beam direct manufacturing approach.  This effort will establish a processing specification based on a closed-loop process control system and will qualify the process based on a large-scale coupon testing program.  The selected components will then be certified for use on the aircraft through a spectrum lifetime fatigue component test.   This presentation will detail the critical factors, both technical and economical, that went into the decision process and will provide up-to-date summary on the implementation effort.