Military Looks for Novel Ways to Employ 3D Printing.

• Date: 01 June 2021
• Author: Roaten, Meredith
• Published date: 01 June 2021
• Author: Roaten, Meredith

In April, the Army signed a contract for its "Jointless Hull Project," which has an ambitious goal of developing a 3D metal printer so large that it can create a military truck exterior in one giant piece.

"The mission is to develop a large-scale tool capable of producing single, jointless combat vehicle hulls at a near net size of 30-foot-by-20-foot-by-12 foot in size," Larry "LJ" Holmes, principal investigator at ASTRO America, the nonprofit that is working with the Army to develop the massive 3D printer, said in a statement.

Additive manufacturing--also known as 3D printing--has been in development for decades and the U.S. military branches and the defense industrial base have both integrated the advanced manufacturing technique in their processes.

However, in January the Defense Department's Joint Defense Manufacturing Council, the office of the deputy director for strategic technology protection and exploitation and the office of the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering released the Pentagon's first additive manufacturing strategy.

The document described five goals for the technology: integrate it into the Pentagon and the defense industrial base; promote agile use; develop best practices and proficiency; secure workflows; and support collaboration across services and the federal government.

Meanwhile, a variety of 3D printing programs are proceeding throughout the military.

Aaron LaLonde, additive manufacturing subject matter expert at Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Ground Vehicle Systems Center--one of the participants in the Jointless Hull Project--said the manufacturing process will ultimately aid warfighters. "This project will scale the benefits of metal additive manufacturing to a size range that will allow the benefits of the technology to be realized on larger system scale parts and enable next-generation vehicle performance," he said in a statement.

The Army project is one of many ways the armed services are using additive manufacturing to innovate and make supply chains more resilient.

Proponents say additive manufacturing has the potential to save the Defense Department a substantial amount of money in a time when budgets are being squeezed and sustainment costs are stacking up.

Benjamin Leever, technical director in the manufacturing and industrial technologies division at the Air Force Research Laboratory, said the service has reduced sustainment costs by printing tools and fixturing...