Case Study: Piper Aircraft achieves faster, lower-cost hydroforming tooling with Stratasys FDM (Fortus 900mc)

Piper Reduces the Cost and Leadtime of Hydroforming Tooling to Build a Personal Jet

Piper Aircraft, developer of the PiperJet Altaire, faced high cost and long lead times producing complex hydroforming aluminum form tools using CNC machining—programming was slow, machine time and skilled labor were expensive, and material waste was significant. To address this, Piper turned to Stratasys and its Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology, selecting the Fortus 900mc for large, accurate polymer tooling.

Stratasys supplied FDM polycarbonate (and ULTEM 9085 for higher pressures) tooling built on the Fortus 900mc, enabling Piper to produce dozens of hydroforming form tools and route/drill fixtures. The Stratasys solution cut tooling lead time from 14 days to 4.5 days, reduced programming from about four hours to ten minutes, lowered material waste (supports under ~20%), and provided tooling capable of withstanding the required hydroforming pressures—delivering substantial time, waste and labor savings while enabling more complex part geometries.

Piper Aircraft

Jacob Allenbaugh

Manufacturing Engineer