COMPLEX GEOMETRY
by Steve Stark “ A
Remember, when you take a part out of a weapon system and replace it with an additive manufactured part, you’re putting lives on the line if that part is not fully capable. So we have to be very sure…we understand the science.
” 76 Army AL&T Magazine
dditive manufacturing shines with promise. Te discipline, also known as 3D printing, holds the promise of being the most powerful, efficient and versatile method of manufacturing, enabling a whole new world of prod- ucts—complex shapes, compound geometries and compound materials that
no designer could envision without it. It also holds the promise to speed logistics, reduce waste in materials and processes, and enable customization to a degree unimaginable with conventional manufacturing—and more.
“Te Army wants to be at the forefront of this advancement in technology,” said Dr. Philip Perconti, director of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), at the opening of the new Advanced Manufacturing, Materials and Processes (AMMP) manufacturing innovation center in Harford County, Maryland, near Aberdeen Proving Ground, in October. Additive manufacturing, he continued, is at a pivotal stage in development, and the Army is basing strategic investments in agile manufacturing and material processing programs to leverage technology breakthroughs for rapid prototyping and development. He said that he foresees the mobile production of “replacement components to alleviate distance delays and provide performance enhancements and new capabilities through optimization of complex architectures and integrated functions.”
Tat vision sums up the Army’s effort to drive additive manufacturing technology forward and fulfill its potential to positively impact virtually every Army system. With aging and in many cases decaying organic manufacturing capabilities at depots around the country, the technology is a natural fit for the Army as it upgrades organic manu- facturing. ARL is partnering with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences in the AMMP effort. Te center also launched its AMMP consortium.
In pursuit of its additive future, the Army has stood up the Additive and Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence at the Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Illinois. Tere’s a robust community of practice on milSuite. Defense Acquisition magazine devoted its entire November-December 2016 issue to additive manufacturing. All of this means that additive is very much in the Army’s sights, but it has a long way to go to meet its potential.
A YOUNG FIELD Invented in the mid-1980s by Charles Hull, who went on to found 3D Systems Inc., additive manufacturing is still very much a young field, especially when compared with the thousands of years that humans have been manufacturing. Conceived by Hull as stereolithography, the process still bears that imprint: 3D-printing design files have the designation “.stl,” for stereolithography (or standard tessellation language), but both are backronyms created to fit the initials. Tere are seven types of additive processes with their own pros and cons, and new methods within those process categories are being developed all the time.
For the Army, additive is attractive for how it can improve readiness. But readiness is a broad category, encompassing logistics, sustainment, repair and much more. From
January-March 2019
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