SPEE3D, a metal 3D printing specialist, announced that it successfully participated in a demonstration at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
“SPEE3D intends to make additive manufacturing accessible as a quick, cost-effective, and easy way to print crucial metal parts that otherwise would not be available at the point of need. Having a soldier with no previous additive manufacturing experience learn our technology within a week certainly meets that goal”, said Byron Kennedy, CEO of SPEE3D. “We are proud to have collaborated with Army Research Labs, the University of Knoxville, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and all of our other partners to participate in this successful demonstration.”
The focus was on the repair of a Bradley fighting vehicle. Using SPEE3D’s Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) technology, a transmission mount for the vehicle was printed directly on site. The part was then fitted to the vehicle, which underwent several stress tests in the field. After the test drives, the component was checked for functionality and showed no signs of wear. This demonstrated that the CSAM technology is capable of printing a functional replacement part and thus restoring the vehicle’s operational readiness.
“This demonstration successfully illustrated how cold spray technology can be utilized to positively impact the warfighter in expeditionary scenarios,” said Michael Nicholas, Materials Engineer at DEVCOM ARL. “Expeditionary cold systems provide added repair and manufacturing capabilities which can address supply chain challenges as would be expected in a contested logistics environment. Overall, this advanced manufacturing demonstration was extremely successful due to our amazing partnerships with industry, academia and future technology users.”
The successful demonstration shows that additive manufacturing is able to support the needs of modern military operations by providing fast, flexible and reliable solutions for the production of metal components.
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