Collins Aerospace Opens Additive Manufacturing Center Expansion in Iowa

Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, has opened a $14-million expansion of its additive manufacturing (AM) center in West Des Moines, Iowa. The 9,000-square-foot addition provides space for the site to house several new state-of-the-art 3D metal printers. The first printer installed has eight times the build volume of the facility’s existing printers, significantly increasing the center’s additive manufacturing capabilities.

“From supporting the backlog in commercial aircraft to enabling future platforms, and reducing carbon emissions to providing supply chain relief, additive manufacturing is poised to play an integral role in the future of the aerospace and defense industry,” says Renee Begley, West Des Moines site lead for Collins Aerospace. “Additive manufacturing has the potential to help us reduce weight, complexity, lead time and cost in the parts we supply, and this expansion represents an investment in our business to help deliver those benefits to our customers.”

Collins’ West Des Moines facility provides design and production of engine components for commercial and military aircraft. The new printers will enable the site to explore additive production of these components, building on the multiple land-based turbine components it already has in production. Additionally, the facility is one of only eight in the U.S. to receive the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP) certification for Additive Manufacturing.

“Since 1933 when Collins was founded in Cedar Rapids, Iowa has been proud to be a home to this global manufacturing powerhouse,” says Governor Kim Reynolds. “(The) expansion in West Des Moines is a testament to the commitment Collins Aerospace has made to our state, and we’re equally committed to providing the strong economic environment that will fuel its innovation here for decades more to come.”

AM is a critical focus area for Collins and the business maintains a global network of additive production centers in Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina and Singapore, along with an additive research center in Connecticut.

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• Read about why AM leads to internal production for Collins Aerospace. Its Charlotte-area center will provide additive manufacturing expertise and production capacity for Collins business units based across the country, enabling the company to guard proprietary design and process details that are often part of AM.
   
• Learn about Collins Aerospace’s selection of PrintSky for a flight actuation project. PrintSky will use its expertise to develop flight actuation systems that can resist mechanical loads, dissipate heat emitted by the components, and be tight and insensible to electromagnetic disturbances.