According to the website of New Scientist on February 7th, in the Royal Air Force, fighter jets that first flew in the 1970s can be converted into metal powder and then 3D printed to manufacture components for the next generation of fighter jets. Experts say that this is a more effective method of manufacturing aircraft - it causes less environmental damage and also solves the problem of procuring materials from sanctioned countries such as Russia. Robert Highham, a British additive manufacturing solutions company, has developed a technology that can recycle key materials such as titanium alloy Ti64. The UK Ministry of Defence has a large amount of expensive and difficult to obtain materials like Ti64, but these materials are confined to outdated or damaged aircraft and stored components. The company is able to remove turbine blades from the "Whirlwind" fighter jet produced by Panavia (a fighter jet that served in the Royal Air Force from 1980 to 2019), recycle them, and make nose cones for prototype engines, which will power the next generation of Royal Air Force fighter jets. Haiham said, "Global prices are more expensive than before. Manufacturing products has become more complex and costly. We can minimize the production costs of these products as much as possible." Haiham said that using old parts to obtain spherical metal particles is the key to printing high-quality new parts, as uneven metal particles can get stuck in 3D printers. Merely grinding the metal is not enough. The recovered components need to be melted, and then high-pressure argon gas is used to break the molten liquid flow into raindrop like droplets. These droplets become spherical during rotation and then solidify into metal powder. Haiham said, "This process is very similar to the process of rainwater turning into hail." Next, these metal powders can be fed into 3D printing equipment. The printer welds metal powder into a cross-section that is only half the thickness of a human hair. After one layer is welded, another layer is laid and cycled layer by layer until a new component is generated. Haiham said, "This is a very simple micro welding process." In the case of manufacturing nose cones, metal powder was used to 3D print nose cones for the Orpheus aircraft engine. Currently, Rolls Royce is developing this engine for the Future Air Combat System (FCAS). FCAS includes a series of aircraft using modular components, including the sixth generation fighter jet "Storm" that Beiyi Systems plans to develop for the Royal Air Force. (New Society)