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Jul 03, 2023

Naval Postgraduate School to utilise SPEE3D XSPEED metal 3D printer for MRO operations & research

by Sam Davies 25 August 2023 09:22 SPEE3D Containerised XSPEE3D metal 3D printing system. The Naval Postgraduate School’s Consortium for Additive Manufacturing Research and Education ( CAMRE ) in

by Sam Davies

25 August 2023

09:22

SPEE3D

Containerised XSPEE3D metal 3D printing system.

The Naval Postgraduate School’s Consortium for Additive Manufacturing Research and Education (CAMRE) in California is to install SPEE3D’s containerised XSPEE3D metal 3D printing system after the organisations announced a partnership.

With this installation, CAMRE aims to accelerate the adoption of metal additive manufacturing in its support of the US Tri-Service Maritime forces, which includes the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The machine will be used by US Naval Postgraduate School graduate students, PhD candidates and research & development professionals.

CAMRE intends to use the XSPEE3D cold spray metal 3D printing system to support maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations for ships and vessels (surface and undersea), as well as aircraft and ground equipment. During contested military trials and exercises, they will test and evaluate SPEE3D’s cold spray additive manufacturing capabilities on the ground and onboard an amphibious warfare ship.

Warfighters and maintainers require on-demand technology to produce metal repair and replacement parts quickly at the point of need in order to reduce downtime. XSPEE3D has been designed as a containerised and ruggedised solution that can be easily transported, helping users to produce parts in minutes in ‘harsh, remote military conditions.’

“The Naval Postgraduate School chose the XSPEE3D metal 3D printer because of its expeditionary nature that allows it to be contained inside a rugged and deployable metal container and deployed anywhere, including harsh field conditions,” commented Chris Curran, Program Manager for CAMRE. “Uniquely, it runs on heated compressed air and does not require inert gasses or lasers, reducing risk to the operator. We were also impressed with its capabilities relating to build speeds and maximum part size and its line-up of current and future materials.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with CAMRE to bring access to our CSAM technology that allows them to integrate efforts with our company further, as well as with NAVSEA and Penn State University’s Applied Research Lab,” added Chris Harris, Vice President of Defense for the Americas at SPEE3D.

The partnership with CAMRE represents the latest in a series of dealings between SPEE3D and defence organisations. This year alone, the company has printed parts on-demand for the US Marine Corps during a live-fire training exercise, been chosen by US Navy to develop subsafe manufacturing materials with metal cold spray 3D printing, and been named as a winner of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology (OSD ManTech) “Point of Need Challenge” for solutions to support forward-deployed forces in austere environments.

by Sam Davies

25 August 2023

09:22

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