Ingenieros del Naval Postgraduate School (US Navy), llevan adelante un proyecto para desarrollar la capacidad de emplear equipos de \u201c3D Metal Printing\u201d para la fabricaci\u00f3n de piezas met\u00e1licas de motores de buques de esa flota. Producir componentes de motores, que deben funcionar como partes m\u00f3viles de los mismos, soportando severas exigencias termomec\u00e1nicas, resulta un gran desaf\u00edo para los desarrollistas. Pero de hacerse realidad, podr\u00eda revolucionar la cadena log\u00edstica de mantenimiento de las flotas en operaciones.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2013 The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, took delivery late last year of a new Xerox 3D metal printer<\/a> that the school hopes will advance what\u2019s possible to manufacture at sea, easing the burden on the Navy\u2019s supply chain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The school was the first to receive Xerox\u2019s ElemX 3D printer<\/a>, which came about as part of an acquisition of Vader Systems<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The military has been keenly interested in additive manufacturing (3D printing) as a means of reducing the cost of producing parts and giving operators in remote environments – such as a ship at sea – the ability to fix items on the fly rather than having to wait for a part to be delivered. This ability could be particularly important as logistics trains are expected to become target themselves in the event of a war with Russia or China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The goal for the school is to lean on a fleet experience of officers to find creative uses for the capability, said Walter Smith, the research associate professor from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NPS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of the promising uses would be parts for engines, Smith said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOne of the great things that we can use this machine for is parts for turbo machines,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s compressors and nozzles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to start out with stationary parts as part of a turbo machine and then hopefully develop enough trust and capability and understanding of the process that we can start building real rotating parts that are going to operate at speed. So, things that you would really put in an engine.\u201d<\/p>\n The printer uses a spool of aluminum wire that is melted and fabricates the part drop by drop in a tray that\u2019s about one-foot-by-one-foot, which is cheaper and safer than the current powder-based printers that are in wide use today, said Tali Rosman, Xerox\u2019s general manager of 3D Printing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a press release, retired Marine Col. Todd Lyons of the Naval Post Graduate School alumni association, said liquid metal printing has the potential to fundamentally change the military supply chain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBy providing the right digital tools and the liquid metal printer, all of a sudden we\u2019ve helped transform not just the supply chain, but how the Department of Defense thinks operationally about supplying war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n