Manufacturing Process of Helicopter Tail Rotor Blades from Composite Materials Using 3D-Printed Moulds

Conventional processes require a mould for the manufacture of each test product, which often results in high costs but is ideal for large series of products. In contrast, for prototypes, additive manufacturing processes are a suitable low-cost time-saving alternative. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the capabilities of 3D-printed tooling in a real-life scenario for composite blades with low production numbers and prototypes in order to allow development and production costs to decrease and to also reduce lead times in the early phases of new projects. The 3D printing process is economically advantageous in terms of production costs for the composite blade mould, reducing the cost three times compared to the conventional manufacturing process. To obtain the composite helicopter blade, the following phases were carried out: the starting design of the mould, 3D printing and assembly of the mould sections, and blade manufacturing. The economic analysis of the two mould manufacturing methods shows an approximately equal ratio between the manufacturing costs of the 3D-printed mould and the manufacturing costs of the blade, whereas in the conventional processes, the costs for mould manufacturing represent 75% of the total cost and the rest (25%) of the cost is spent on blade manufacturing.