VOA常速英语2014--空客新飞机将采用3D打印金属零件

Airbus Adds Metal 3-D-Printed Parts to New Jets 空客新飞机将采用3D打印金属零件

By the end of this year, European aircraft manufacturing consortium Airbus plans to deliver the first of its new, extra-wide-body passenger jets, the A350-XWB. Among other technological 1 innovations, the new plane will also incorporate metal parts made in a 3-D printer.

The high price of today's air fares is due in large part to the cost of fuel, which is why manufacturers are striving to build lighter 2 planes, with more efficient engines and more seats.

现如今机票的高昂价格在很大程度上要归咎于燃料成本,而这就是制造商们正致力于打造更轻的飞机,更高效的发动机及更多座位的原因。

The bodies of modern jets, like Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, are made from composite materials, usually carbon-reinforced plastic.

现代飞机的构造,比如这架波音787梦幻客机通常是由碳基增强塑料这样的复合材料制造而成。

Some plastic parts created in a 3-D printer are already incorporated into the Airbus A350 jet. But the new model XWB will be the first with parts printed with titanium. Airbus emerging technologies manager Peter Sander says technicians learned to print even geometrically very complex shapes.

由3D打印机创造的部分塑料零件已经成为空客A350飞机的组成部分。但是新机型XWB将是第一次采用钛打印的零件。空客新兴技术经理彼得·桑德表示技术人员已经掌握了打印技术，即使是非常复杂的几何形状。

“Normally this is a part of the fuel system, it's two pipes in one, and it's normally welded out of 10 parts.So in this case, with 3-D printing we have the chance to integrate the bracket of the pipe and two pipes at once and print it in one shot.”

“通常这是燃油系统的一部分,它是两个管子合而为一,并且通常由10个零部件焊接而成。所以在这种情况下,有了3D打印技术，我们就可以将管道支架和两个管子放到一起，之后打印出来就可以了。”

3-D printing is also a solution when parts are no longer available. Sander says when Airbus engineers needed a discontinued spare part for seats, it was easy to print perfect copies.

当零部件短缺的情况出现时3D印刷也是一种缓解燃眉之急的方式。桑德表示如果空客工程师们需要一个已经不再经营的座位部件,打印完美的复制品是很简单的解决之道。

“So we did a redesign in a week and printing in a week. So the redesign itself cost two hours, we took the manual drawing, redesigned it and put it on the desk one week later to the spare part guys.”

“因此我们花一周时间重新设计，再花一周时间进行打印。所以重新设计工作本身花费两个小时,我们进行手工绘图,重新设计,一周之后这个零件就可以投入使用。”

The technology is developing rapidly and one can easily imagine entire aircraft assembled out of printed parts.

随着技术的迅速发展,人们可以很容易就可以想象整架飞机是由于印刷部件组装而成。

Airbus executive Axel Krein says it will take a long time, but notes that in the meantime, the number of printed parts will keep increasing.

空客总裁阿克塞尔·克莱因表示这个过程或许需要很长时间,但他也指出,与此同时,打印零件的数量将继续增加。

“We are investing a lot of money in aerodynamic improvement, in material, in noise reduction, etc., but 3-D printing is probably the area with the highest gain over time.”

“我们在改进空气动力学,材料,降噪等等方面投入很多,但3D打印技术可能随着时间的推移成为最流行的趋势。”

As a sign of things to come, the giant U.S. conglomerate 3 General Electric says it is investing 50 million in a plant that will print fuel nozzles for its aircraft engines.

作为一种征兆,美国巨头通用电气表示,它正投资5000万即将打印飞机引擎的零件燃料喷角。