Our client, the company IXO (Iconic Xtrem Objects), specialises in taking the use of carbon to new applications, designing and creating unique and dedicated pieces. From aerospace objects/parts to luxury items, such as these bottles.
For the production of these and other exclusive products, the finish has to be perfect, precise and flawless, as their customers are extremely demanding.
Cutting tables from Swiss manufacturer Zünd, distributed by Sign-Tronic for the past 30 years, provide the required finishing and process optimisation technology for high-quality cutting of composite materials.
The project is the first full-scale prototype of a hybrid rudder blade made by large-scale additive manufacturing, manufactured at Navantia’s Centre of Excellence for Additive Manufacturing (CEFAN) in Puerto Real. The project represents a major example of innovation in the naval sector.
It weighs approximately 3.5 tonnes and is almost four metres long. It is considered to be the first rudder blade of a defence ship made by integrating different production processes. One of them is 3D printing and the key to its winning the award.
The blade is composed of 17 polymeric parts printed in ASA (Acrylonitrile Stryrene Acrylate). Each weighs 130 kilos each. Its complexity of design and manufacture and its size make it one of the largest printed parts in the world.