Lufthansa Technik puts a titanium 3D-printed latch into service

A small latch inside an aircraft roller shutter used to trigger a much larger repair. When the polymer part wore out, Lufthansa Technik could not buy it separately from the original equipment manufacturers, so technicians had to replace the entire assembly. The company has now put a titanium Ti6Al4V latch into service on roller shutters used in the Airbus A330, A340 and A380.

The original component retained the roller brake and endcap in place, but repeated in-service wear caused it to fail. Lufthansa Technik’s additive manufacturing team redesigned the complex injection-molded part for metal 3D printing instead of copying it in polymer. The new material gives the latch added strength, according to the company, and is expected to extend its lifespan.

Lufthansa Technik holds EASA Part 21.G and 21.J certifications, authorizations that allow it to design, manufacture and certify flight-ready parts in-house. Those certifications sit in the background here: the technical advance is the ability to turn an otherwise unsourceable spare into a certified replacement. The source does not give a cost saving or a measured increase in service life.

Materialise manufactured the certified latch after qualifying as a Lufthansa Technik supplier for metal 3D-printed parts. The two companies aligned on the manufacturing process, process-stability requirements and production controls, while Materialise’s EN 9100 certification and Metal Competence Center supported the qualification work.

So what changes in practice? When the latch breaks, Lufthansa Technik can now replace the latch rather than the full roller shutter assembly. The part is already flight-ready and in service, and Materialise has since been named an official workbench for metal parts within Lufthansa Technik’s supply chain. The result is not a new aircraft system, but a more targeted repair for a component that previously forced a much larger replacement.