additive manufacturing<\/a><\/span> and 3-D printing. \u201cWe\u2019re trying new designs for thermal improvements and lightweight structures, things we couldn\u2019t achieve with any other manufacturing method.\u201d<\/p>\nOne of the new areas in weapon 3D printing is warhead design and manufacturing. Warhead designers attempt to create blast effects that meet specific criteria. \u201cOnce you get into detonation physics you open up a whole new universe,\u201d James Zunino, a materials engineer for the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) said.<\/p>\n
The limits on what can be produced using machine tools limit warhead shapes. By lifting limitations through the expanded capabilities that come with additive manufacturing, space is used more efficiently. \u201cThe real value you get is you can get more safety, lethality or operational capability from the same space,\u201d Zunino said.<\/p>\n
These innovative additive manufacturing processes bring together printed metals, printed energetics and other materials, layered onto substrates into the components that comprise an \u201cinitiation train\u201d in explosive warheads. \u201cYou can vastly simplify the manufacturing of energetic materials by printing them,\u201d Zunino said.<\/p>\n
A major contribution of 3-D printing is its potential to streamline the manufacturing process, said Leah Hull, additive manufacturing manager for Raytheon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we print something, we have fewer piece parts, so your supply chain becomes simpler,\u201d Hull said. \u201cYour development cycles are shorter; you\u2019re getting parts much faster. You can get a lot more complex with your design because [you can design] angles you can\u2019t machine into metal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnsuring consistent production integrity will be part of the next steps to realize this vision,\u201d said Dr. Teresa Clement, a Raytheon materials expert who also serves as the chair of the executive committee of America Makes, an initiative of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute.<\/p>\n
Other printed elements include complex electronic circuits \u2013 Engineers at the Raytheon University of Massachusetts Lowell Research Institute are developing ways to print such circuits, particularly microwave components \u2013 the building blocks of sophisticated radars. The current method of building microscopic circuits involves removing material to create a circuit pathway. In contrast, 3-D printing lays down just the material needed to build the electronic pathway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe word \u2018printing\u2019 implies lower cost,\u201d said Chris McCarroll, Raytheon director for the institute. \u201cIt\u2019s additive manufacturing. When we make integrated circuits [now], it\u2019s all subtractive. We put down very expensive materials and wash away everything we don\u2019t need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Circuits can already be printed with inkjet printers. The goal is to print more complicated circuits in three dimensions, with the very high resolution and performance of silicon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s currently a hierarchy in our manufacturing. We make the structures, the housings, the circuit cards, with the right materials, and then we integrate them into a system,\u201d said McCarroll. \u201cWhat we see in the near future is printing the electronics and printing the structures, but still integrating. Eventually, we want to print everything together. An integrated system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engineers at the research institute are already able to lay down the conductors and dielectrics needed for printed electronics. They can even lay down carbon nanotubes, tiny structures made of linked carbon atoms, and are working to align them to build futuristic circuits, according to McCarroll.<\/p>\n
So could soldiers someday print and assemble missiles on the spot, in the same way that artillery crews custom-load their rounds or weapons handlers mount guidance kits on some types of bombs? McCarroll said that\u2019s still a ways off.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore a warfighter can print a missile in the field,\u201d he said, \u201cyou need quality, controlled processes to fabricate all the component materials: the metallic strongbacks, and the plastic connectors, the semiconductors for processors, and the energetics and propulsion systems. The hard part is then making the connections between these components, as an example, the integrated control circuit that receives the command to light the fuse. At some relatively near-term point you may have to place chips down and interconnect them with printing. Or, in the future, maybe you\u2019ll just print them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are printing demos of many of the seeker components. And we demonstrated a printed rocket motor. We\u2019ve already printed 80 percent of what would go into a missile\u201d said Danforth.<\/p>\n
3D printing of missiles and warheads will allow engineers to utilize complex geometries and patterns that previously could not be produced or manufactured, driving missiles and warheads to be lighter, smaller, more compact and more affordable. It will also enable focused lethality, rendering warheads more effective, thus reducing collateral damage risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/defense-update.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/printed_missile1021-700x398.jpg\" "\\"printed_missile1021\\"")
Researchers at Raytheon<\/a><\/span> Missile Systems say they have already created nearly every component of a guided weapon using additive manufacturing<\/a><\/span>, more commonly known as 3-D printing. With commercially available high-end equipment and specially modified versions of low-cost 3-D printers, company researchers have created nearly every component of a guided weapon using 3-D printing, including rocket engines, fins, parts for the guidance and control systems, and more.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"http:\/\/defense-update.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/rtn_printed_rocket725.jpg\")