Case Study: GE Aviation achieves 63% lighter titanium aerospace part with Materialise 3-matic

A 63% Lighter Titanium Aerospace Part

GE Aviation sought to dramatically reduce the weight of an aerospace bracket/fuel nozzle while keeping required strength and printability for metal additive manufacturing. They worked with Materialise, using its Materialise 3-matic design-enhancement software and Metal Competence Center (Bremen) 3D printing services to explore topology and cellular-structure alternatives that would cut mass without compromising performance.

Materialise replaced sacrificial supports with functional lightweight cellular structures, iteratively optimizing unit-cell size, beam diameters and FEA-driven topology changes to ensure strength and printability, then produced the part in titanium. The result: a 63% reduction in material/weight (only 37% of the original volume remained), less post-processing, reduced thermal stress, and a smaller carbon footprint — delivering measurable fuel- and cost-saving potential for GE Aviation.

GE Aviation