One of the major questions facing the US military is how to maintain its aging fleets. The reality is, many of the platforms that have been in service for decades are projected to remain in service for the foreseeable future, requiring ongoing maintenance and repair. Failure to overcome this challenge could put the US at a strategic disadvantage.
Thankfully, the emergence of advanced metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology, like Velo3D’s fully integrated metal AM solution, means defense organizations have access to a potential new solution at a time when geopolitics are increasingly fraught.
The technology offers a range of advantages over traditional manufacturing methods including:
- Hyper-flexibility in terms of reproducing the most advanced designs
- Shorter lead times in both development and spares production
- Cost savings over complex, multi-step, manual manufacturing methods
In this article, I explore how metal additive manufacturing—specifically the Velo3D fully integrated metal AM solution—can help US defense organizations maintain their technical advantage by increasing operational agility and expanding the performance and life of existing assets and infrastructure.
The Challenge with Sourcing Replacement Parts
Sourcing replacement parts for military vehicles can be difficult for several reasons. Many of these vehicles are highly specialized with parts unavailable in the civilian market.
But perhaps the bigger issue is that many military vehicles are older models comprised of parts no longer in production or supported by their original equipment manufacturer (OEM), making it difficult to find parts that are compatible. Plus, for replacement parts that are available, the costs may have substantially increased.
Mitigating Lead Time Constraints
One key benefit of Velo3D’s metal additive manufacturing technology is how it provides access to more flexible production. With Velo3D metal additive manufacturing, you can optimize manufacturing processes and supply chain for both high-volume and low-volume parts production.
The ability to drastically lower construction time from months to weeks, and reduce the amount of materials used, can help DoD organizations streamline their supply chain and increase readiness in a manner that is meaningful to new and or ongoing operations.
Velo3D also provides customers with large format print capability. For example, the Sapphire XC features a large build volume up to 600 mm Ø by 1000 mm and utilizes eight 1kW lasers for faster printing at scale. Furthermore, Velo3D doesn’t require specialist knowledge to operate. You can print parts on any Sapphire family printer, providing you with fast, on demand, scalable manufacturing, and supply chain redundancy. With Velo3D, defense organizations can create a scalable manufacturing supply chain for US production and production at global military bases that achieves the same geometric accuracy and material properties as witnessed in US-based development centers.
For example, when a build package is created at one of the US base arsenals, we can validate that build package in the US and send it to a near-theater Velo3D machine where it can then be reproduced to its exact standards.
Once a part has been successfully designed and sliced within Velo3D’s Flow print-preparation software, engineers are left with what’s known as a “Golden Print File.” What the golden print file entails is a set of proprietary print settings that can be used to repeatedly print a part, as needed, on any Velo3D Sapphire printer, anywhere in the world.
With the Velo3D repeatable print file capabilities, we can ensure that the build package will be identical to the build in the US.
Increase Performance, Extend Part Lifecycles
Parts produced with additive manufacturing can have better strength-to-weight ratios compared to parts produced with traditional manufacturing methods. This can also lead to improved performance, as lighter parts can reduce the overall weight of a system. These performance benefits can be seen in various ways, such as increased fuel efficiency and improved emissions.
With Velo3D, defense industries can unlock future mission critical applications like hypersonics with higher-performance and faster development times. In addition, metal additive manufacturing can offer significant cost savings over traditional manufacturing methods.
By utilizing 3D printing, defense contractors can reduce the cost of producing complex parts.
How is this possible? 3D printing does not require complex tooling and can produce highly intricate parts with a minimal amount of waste.
With Velo3D metal AM technology, parts can be produced with little to no supports. These support structures can often prove difficult to remove, if they can be removed at all, adding to the cost and materials used. This can lead to significant cost savings for defense contractors, as they can produce complex parts without the need for expensive tooling or a significant amount of material waste.
Furthermore, instead of producing multiple parts that require assembly, engineers have the option to simplify their design process and print one functioning replacement part.
By utilizing 3D printing, defense contractors can quickly and easily modify parts to meet their needs. This ability to quickly iterate through designs can lead to improved performance, as engineers can swiftly test and refine their designs before committing to alternative, and potentially more expensive, manufacturing processes.
Manufacturing Superiority Through Consistent Part Quality
Metal additive manufacturing allows for increased flexibility in the design process. Velo3D helps defense organizations ensure manufacturing superiority by producing high-quality, technically advanced parts with aerospace-grade material quality.
The technology also provides access to a digital inventory where qualified parts have a persistent, unmodifiable, secure, digital print file that can be transmitted to a Velo3D enabled global print facility and recreated matching original specifications.
A Metal AM Solution Ready to Serve
Metal additive manufacturing can offer a range of benefits to the defense industry, specifically as it seeks to overcome ongoing maintenance and supply chain disruptions.
The technology can help defense contractors produce complex parts quickly while also offering improved performance and increased design flexibility. As technology continues to advance, it is likely that metal additive manufacturing will become an integral part of the defense industry.
Interested in learning more and partnering with Velo3D, the leading US-based Metal AM Provider? Click here to speak with a member of our team Velo3D
