100 parts and counting

From shaft connectors to casing sections and from nozzle guide vanes to fan blades, the list of the first 100 parts to be prototyped has had it all!

All parts up to this point have been prototypes and test that will not be part of the final engine model. Team members from the Compressor, Turbine, Power Transmission and Exhaust teams have been designing these parts and 3D printing has been fully utilised to help our engineers optimise their designs, as well as interact with these. Needless to say, many of those were tested to their limits in the name of engineering and have ended up broken, only to be replaced by improved versions.

With an average print time of 3 hours and 5 minutes, our Overlord has consumed over half a kilometre of plastic in the process! The record for the longest print so far is held by a section of the inner casing which took just over 48 hours to print.

It is not long until we begin manufacture of the final components and we are all looking forward to that! Don't forget that you can always check the latest 3D printing numbers here.