Wabtec Corporation, which makes rail equipment, reports that it has joined Neighborhood 91, an additive manufacturing (AM) production campus at Pittsburgh’s International Airport Innovation Campus.
Wabtec is the first manufacturing company at the location. It also has 3D printing labs in Erie and Grove City, Pennsylvania.
‘This agreement continues our investment in resources that enable our engineers to design new and complex products for the industries we serve,’ said Eric Gebhardt, Wabtec CTO. ‘As the first development in the world to connect all elements of the additive manufacturing supply chain into a single location, Neighborhood 91 is the ideal location to fully realize the potential of this technology.’
The company plans to use AM technology to produce large-scale, lightweight parts for transit rail customers and reduce lead times by up to 80%. Production will include metal aluminum transit components such brake parts and heat sinks for freight locomotives. By 2025, the company plans to use additive manufacturing in the production of over 25,000 parts.
Plans are for Neighborhood 91 to house a complete end-to-end ecosystem offering powder, parts, post-production, testing and analysis, common powder storage facilities, rfficiencies in production/post-production and delivery, tenants’ clients cost savings from on-demand printing, reduced transportation costs, airport access, and argon, helium and other noble gases.
This story uses material from Wabtech, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
