| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for manufacturing an aircraft component by performing an additive manufacturing process to form an initial object 4 comprising an inner tube 42 inside an outer tube 40 attached together only at respective ends 44, 46, the inner and outer tube being spaced apart as to form a chamber (50, fig 4) having a chamber opening 52; establishing within the chamber a predetermined environment and thereafter sealing the chamber opening to maintain the established environment. Preferably, the aircraft component is a pipe and fluid is permitted to flow through the inner tube. The step of establishing a predetermined environment may comprise evacuating the chamber to form a vacuum (or partial vacuum); or at least partially filling the chamber with a material having low thermal conductivity (e.g. thermosetting foam or a fluid) such as to form an insulated pipe. The additive manufacturing process may be a powder bed fusion process. The pipe may be non-straight or bent. The chamber opening may be a capillary tube. |
