There are many applications for 3D printing in the US Navy, from making small components like bolts to parts for large warships. Now, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) in Florida has adopted some new metal 3D printing technology in its Additive Manufacturing Laboratory (AML). By expanding its AM capabilities, the NSWC PCD can help lead innovation for the rest of the Navy.
“There are many advantages to having access to a metal 3D printer. Major advantages include reduction in time to complete prints, reproducibility, and the complexity of parts available for print. NSWC PCD’s goal is to produce efficient and quality products to the warfighter, and this printer will allow our engineers and scientists to create strong and complex products in a shorter time frame,” said Chuck Self, NSWC PCD AML head.
The 3D printer added to the AML is an EOS M290 Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) system. This industrial 3D printer, which has been used to make products like airplane runway mats and rocket engines, features a 250 x 250 x 325 mm build volume and uses a 400-watt fiber laser, with an excellent beam quality, inside a nitrogen atmosphere to make accurate, complex, and fully dense parts out of powdered metal.
According to NSWC PCD mechanical engineer Halie Cameron, NAVSEA acquired the printer in an effort to increase fiscal year ’18 capabilities.
“The printer is capable of building highly complex geometries that are unable to be fabricated by traditional machining,” Cameron said. ” A benefit of the printer is part reduction, by combining parts that would have been fabricated separately with traditional machining. As the capabilities grow, metal 3D printers will likely become irreplaceable.”
Other members of NSWC PCD, such as its machine shop project manager Nicole Waters, are also happy with the new addition. Waters explained that having the metal 3D printer onsite makes it possible to set up an internal, collaborative innovation network for 3D printing.
“Having the metal 3D printer in-house at NSWC PCD allows us to make parts that are customizable to the customer’s needs vice lengthy ordering lead times. This gives our scientists and engineers the opportunity to work one on one with the AML personnel to get their product built exactly the way they want,” Waters said. “We encourage the One Team motto in the AML and want to create the highest quality parts for our Fleet projects and research prototypes.”

Panama City, FL – Chuck Self, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division additive manufacturing laboratory head, prepares the EOS M290 Direct Metal Laser Sintering printer. [Photo by Eddie Green]
Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.
[Source: NAVSEA]Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
Print Services
Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
You May Also Like
XJet Sells Metal 3D Printer to Mold Maker, Deepens Partnership with Youngstown Business Incubator
Back in 2017, XJet, the Israel-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of metal and ceramic additive manufacturing (AM) systems, sold its first machine in the North American market, a Carmel 1400C...
Croom Medical Signals Potential for 3D Print Diversification in Nuclear Fusion
As international interest in reshoring continues to mount, the additive manufacturing (AM) industry clearly has key advantages to offer suppliers scrambling to develop alternatives to traditional supply chains. One of...
From Concept to Reality: Nikon AM CEO Hamid Zarringhalam on Executing a Metal 3D Printing Strategy
There are countless metrics you can use, whether quantitative or qualitative, to judge the success of an organization. One of the most important may simply be the organization’s ability to...
Havaianas Collaborates with Zellerfeld to Launch 3D Printed Flip-Flops
The shoe of the summer is undoubtedly the flip-flop. Easy on, easy off, your feet won’t get sweaty because there’s not much material, and they’re available in a veritable rainbow...