TOULOUSE, France—Engineers at Stelia Aerospace, an Airbus subsidiary that specializes in aerostructures and aircraft seating, have created the world’s first self-reinforced fuselage panel. They used additive manufacturing to integrate stiffening structures that provide the reinforcement.
The engineers used wire arc additive manufacturing to deposit stiffening aluminum wire to the inner surface of the 1-square-meter panel. Currently, the web-like stiffening structures inside fuselages are screwed or welded into place by hand.