MatterHackers
3D printing aboard USS Essex
Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific and MatterHackers have entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), which aims to provide use cases for the Navy and Marine Corps to identify, test and collect data on effective, low-cost, expeditionary 3D printing.
“The results of the CRADA will potentially aid in accelerating operationalisation of commercial off-the-shelf 3D printing for government and military use, a task that has been well underway by the Marine Corps’ Advanced Manufacturing Operations Cell (AMOC),” said Maj. Matthew Audette, Advanced Manufacturing Systems Team Lead. “AMOC’s goal is to further employ additive manufacturing throughout the Marine Corps, including certifying, storing and sharing files for approved 3D printed parts.”
NIWC Pacific provides technological and engineering support to a variety of U.S. Navy and DoD commands. MatterHackers began this CRADA with NIWC Pacific in order to specifically assess and identify Marine Corps use cases associated with ground vehicle equipment and additional innovative Marine Corps-developed solutions.
“MatterHackers has been working closely with our neighbours at Camp Pendleton in Southern California for years, and we are so excited to be able to dig deeper into their 3D printing needs with this CRADA,” says Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at MatterHackers Mara Hitner. “We want to help push those capabilities further with the right machines, materials and training.”
Part of this CRADA will see the testing of 3D printed parts in multiple use-case situations, with successful prototypes being delivered to respective program offices for further reliability and durability testing. MatterHackers will collaborate with these groups on the design and prototyping of novel additive manufacturing equipment to meet Marine Corps needs. This includes the ability to explore materials of interest, such as stainless-steel 3D printer filament designed for desktop extrusion-based machines, which can be debinded and sintered off-site.
“CRADAs such as this facilitate the vital collaboration between defence and industry which is essential to equipping, maintaining, and sustaining our forces,” said Maj. Kate DeLeal, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Director of Additive Manufacturing Policy.
Kristin Holzworth, Ph.D., NIWC Pacific Principal Investigator, said: “MatterHackers, NIWC Pacific and the Marine Corps will identify and address military-specific challenges experienced in tactical settings, and evaluate how open-source 3D printing materials, additive manufacturing equipment, and commercial-grade technical training can help resolve them quickly and effectively.”
MatterHackers
MatterHackers Metal Gear
Holzworth added: “The cooperative hopes that as a greater result of this CRADA, 3D printing capabilities will be better integrated throughout all echelons of the greater Naval enterprise to improve readiness of U.S. Marines and Sailors.”
In late 2021, MatterHackers was awarded a 5 million USD contract to deliver Ultimaker S5 3D printers to the US military. The company said this was the largest military contract ever awarded for desktop 3D printers.
3D printing was recently adopted by the U.S. Navy when the USS Essex received a Xerox 3D printer.
