Additive Manufacturing Journey and Vision of Turkish Aerospace: Aerostructure Applications

Additive manufacturing (AM) has revolutionized the aerospace industry by enabling lightweight, high-performance, and complex geometries while reducing material waste and production lead times. Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) has been actively integrating AM technologies into its aerostructure applications to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve design flexibility. This paper presents the journey of Turkish Aerospace in AM, focusing on key developments, applications, and future perspectives. Turkish Aerospace has invested in various AM methods, including Directed Energy Deposition (DED) and Powder Bed Fusion (PBF), to produce structural components with optimized strength-to-weight ratios. These technologies have been applied to aircraft fuselage, wings, and engine components, contributing to the performance and sustainability of next-generation aerospace platforms. Collaborations with research institutions and industry partners have further accelerated advancements in material development, process optimization, and certification efforts.  Looking ahead, Turkish Aerospace envisions expanding its AM capabilities to fully integrate with digital manufacturing and artificial intelligence-driven design processes. The ultimate goal is to achieve higher efficiency, reduce production costs, and enhance the competitiveness of the Turkish aerospace industry on a global scale. This paper provides insights into the company’s AM roadmap and its strategic direction in aerostructure applications.

Presentation language: EN