How we use MJF printing for drone parts

One part, two things most processes can't do at once

In additive manufacturing, you usually trade one quality for another. Make a part lighter and you risk losing strength. Add design complexity and you often add cost or production time. HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) is one of the few technologies that lets you hold all of these together, and we wanted to show exactly what that looks like.

So we designed a drone part as a sample. It is just 0.5mm thick, yet it is durable, flexible and built with a level of design detail that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with conventional methods. Jonathan walks through it in a short video, and the part speaks for itself.

Why MJF suits lightweight components

Drone components are a good test of any manufacturing process. Every gram matters, because added weight reduces flight time, payload and efficiency. At the same time, the part still has to survive real-world handling, vibration and stress.

MJF works by fusing fine polymer powder layer by layer, which gives us strong, consistent parts without the supports or tooling that other processes rely on. That means we can produce thin-walled, lightweight components that hold their structural integrity. A 0.5mm wall is not a fragile result here. It is durable and flexible, and it performs.

For anyone developing drones, aeronautics components or any product where weight is a constraint, this opens up options that heavier processes simply cannot match.

Design complexity becomes an advantage

The bigger story is what MJF lets you do with the design itself. Because we are building up material rather than cutting it away or moulding it, complex internal geometries, lattices and intricate detail are well within reach. Features that would force compromises in injection moulding or machining can be built in from the start.

Our drone sample only scratches the surface. With this material we can push design complexity much further and use it to genuine advantage, optimising a part for weight, strength or function rather than working around the limits of the process. That is the difference between making a part and engineering the right part.

From sample to your next product

A sample is one thing. Applying the same thinking to your product is where it gets interesting. Whether you are refining an existing component or developing something new, MJF gives you a fast, cost-effective route from concept through to low-volume production, with the design freedom to get the part right before you commit to higher volumes.

This is the work we do every day, supporting product developers and manufacturers across marine, agritech, medical, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Lightweight, complex, reliable parts, produced locally.

If you would like to know more about using MJF as an option for manufacturing your product parts, get in touch to arrange a meeting and let's see how we can help you get to market more efficiently.

Watch Jonathan's short video to see the part in action.