Non-Contact Measurement Techniques for Qualification of Aerospace Brackets Made by Additive Manufacturing Technologies

In recent times, additively manufactured aerospace brackets made in titanium based alloys are gaining a great importance in the design of spacecrafts and satellites. In this scenario, one of the main focal points is the qualification of these 3D printed-products, including their mechanical behavior. In literature, no dissertation can be found about stress analysis on the actual component, and this is what this paper focuses on. The importance of this study relies on the fact that some morphological or dimensional differences between the nominal (CAD) structure and the manufactured one could lead to non-predicted stress concentrations. We describe a feasibility study of the Thermoelastic Stress Analysis on a titanium based- alloy space bracket, made by Electron Beam Melting (EBM). The success of our study could enable the classical topology optimization processes to be implemented a-posteriori, thus providing an additional time and cost saving. (paper)