Rolls-Royce Orders a 3D-Printed Titanium Structural Component from Norsk Titanium

On October 30, 2026, Nanjixiong learned that Rolls-Royce had issued a purchase order to Norway's Norsk Titanium for a 3D-printed Ti-6Al-4V structural component with potential applications across several current civil aero-engine programs.



The component will be manufactured using Norsk's patented Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) process at its Norwegian technology center, then shipped to Germany for machining. Norsk Titanium has formally become an approved supplier for Rolls-Royce's R&D activities. The partners will explore additional applications of RPD in future programs.

Norsk Titanium CEO Fabrizio Ponte said the order advances the relationship and validates RPD within an established aero-engine supply chain. Airbus, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman have also worked with Norsk on end-use components.

Nanjixiong's observations

An aero-engine manufacturer moving from evaluation to a purchase order indicates that plasma-based directed energy deposition is crossing the production threshold for large titanium structural components.

AI-translated from an article by Kuaixiong on Nanjixiong, originally published on 2026-10-30. Text and images retain the original source attribution.
Read the original Chinese article