Defense

国防部揭露添加剂制造策略

TheUS Department of Defense(DoD) has released its first-ever comprehensive additive manufacturing strategy which aims to establish a common vision for the use of 3D printing within the nation’s defense program.

The国防制造技术部长办公室(OSD MANTECH)计划办公室与美国的军事服务和其他国防机构合作起草了该战略,概述了五个战略目标,以扩大整个国防部门的3D印刷。

“增材制造业为国防部提供了前所未有的供应链敏捷性,同时使我们的开发商能够为我们的战士维持技术优势,”战略技术保护和开发办公室(STP&E)和剥削办公室(STP&E)和制造工业基地(TMIB)总监罗伯特·戈德(Robert Gold)说。OSD Mantech的监督者。

“This strategy ensures that DoD will realize the most benefits from AM technology by structuring our AM activities, aligning funding opportunities, and improving AM implementation efforts – all with the objective of enhancing our Warfighters’ mission readiness.”

An M1 Abrams tank under TACOM. Photo via US Army.
An M1 Abrams tank under TACOM. Photo via US Army.

3D打印如何支持美国国防领域

该策略于1月揭幕,概述了增材制造业支持美国经济和国防活动的关键方法,其中首次涉及使用通过3D打印设计的设备来现代化其国防系统并随后提高其性能。

Additive manufacturing is also helping to increase material readiness for rapid prototyping and production of end-use parts, which in turn reduces the risk of obsolete hardware. Additionally, 3D printing capabilities are aiding Warfighters to be more innovative on the battlefield.

“The Air Force eagerly partnered with OSD and our other services to develop a much needed DoD AM Strategy that addresses our collective needs,” said Angela Tymofichuk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Logistics and Product Support at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. “This strategy is vital as it provides a roadmap to fully adopt and integrate AM in our acquisition and sustainment communities.

“我们设想成为一种有效的工具,可以减轻供应来源减少和长时间的供应链短缺,同时使飞行员能够为他们遇到的无数维持挑战创造创新的解决方案。”

The US military has been试用和集成3D打印进入其运营已有一段时间了,去年美国陆军物质司令部司令部司令部指出,现在是为了开发一种手段effectively deploying 3D printing在军队的武器库,仓库和植物中。

The new strategy hopes to build on the success of previous and current additive manufacturing projects initiated by the US military, some of which include experimenting with3D printed missile parts, re-engineering parts for its黑鹰helicopters, and定制的耳塞对于人员。

Just this week, theUS Naval Postgraduate School(NPS) announced a research collaboration with global print and digital document corporation复印探索3D打印如何改变军方提供其部署部队的方式。

美国陆军黑鹰。通过洛克希德·马丁(Lockheed Martin)的照片。
美国陆军黑鹰。通过洛克希德·马丁(Lockheed Martin)的照片。

将AM融入国防部和国防工业基础

The first goal of the DoD’s additive manufacturing strategy is to realize the technology’s benefits and impact across the defense industrial supply chain, from engineering and acquisition to maintenance and sustainment. To this end, the DoD will develop internal policy and guidance to enable the use of 3D printing within the defense industrial base to the “widest practical extent”.

This will involve identifying critical readiness drivers across its weapons systems and addressing concerns around intellectual property (IP) and cyber protection. Relevant DoD agencies and services have begun developing initial frameworks for the implementation of 3D printing throughout their respective organizations, focusing on qualification and certification guides, exchange of ideas, guidance for expeditionary forces, and defining logistics, cost modeling, and supply chain integration policies.

Digital tools will also be used to evaluate the success of implementing additive manufacturing in terms of readiness, cost, and performance, while new business models will be developed and shared where appropriate for use of 3D printed parts in the DoD’s weapon systems.

美国以前已经测试过高超音速导弹技术,但尚未生产出功能齐全的武器。通过美国国防部的照片。
美国以前已经测试过高超音速导弹技术,但尚未生产出功能齐全的武器。通过美国国防部的照片。

Aligning 3D printing across the DOD and external partners

The second aim in the DoD’s strategy focuses on formally aligning leadership, resources, guidance, and processes for new and advanced additively manufactured designs and technologies. This will see the establishment of a cross-DoD collaboration framework, named the Joint Defense Manufacturing Council (JDMC), which will enable the consolidation and sharing of information.

The JDMC will oversee the newly created Joint Additive Manufacturing Working Group (JAMWG) which will act as a forum for the sharing of best practices, identifying common challenges, joint project collaborations, and recommending changes in policy or guidance. The DoD will also continue to develop its current additive manufacturing roadmaps to best inform on service implementation plans and evaluate resources.

The DoD will continue to work with related agencies such asNASA,Department of Energy(doe)和Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) to both leverage their work and identify joint projects related to 3D printing.

Armed forces observing a 3D printer. Photo via Marine Corps.
Armed forces observing a 3D printer. Photo via Marine Corps.

推进敏捷的3D打印

The third goal of the additive manufacturing strategy revolves around enabling the DoD to be more responsive to its Warfighters’ needs through increasing its scientific understanding, design, and application of 3D printing in order to scale up the adoption of the technology within its services and industrial base.

To meet the qualification and certification needs of 3D printed parts and their processes to facilitate this scale-up, the DoD will introduce a risk-based approach to manage the level or rigor and cost for high-risk parts, such as critical safety items. Leveraging data, lessons learned, and best practices from its previous and existing additive manufacturing projects, the DoD will develop common standards and criteria to accelerate its qualification and certification processes.

Part of this will include the use of virtual environments such as digital twins to improve manufacturing operations and support material readiness going forward. The DoD will expand its digital data thread to ensure safe and effective use of 3D printing by its deployed forces around the world, and consideration of logistics, materials, machines, and personnel training will be increased.

黑鹰直升机。通过洛克希德·马丁(Lockheed Martin)的照片。
美国军方正在创建其黑鹰直升机的数字双胞胎。通过洛克希德·马丁(Lockheed Martin)的照片。

Expanding proficiency through knowledge sharing

广泛的国家需要更熟练的趋势labor within the manufacturing sector for advanced technologies also apply to the DoD’s own operations, with this particular goal centering around addressing US manufacturing workforce challenges to support the nation’s defense. The strategy lays out the DoD’s key role in educating and training the next generation in working with advanced technologies such as 3D printing, including DoD personnel.

To achieve this, the department will aid its workforce in learning 3D printing processes and best practices, hands-on training for 3D printing parts, and sharing knowledge through all levels of the workforce, from decision-makers to apprentices. Within this, upskilling of workers, training, and education will be big focuses for the DoD over the next decade, as will connections with industry and academic partners for the sharing of knowledge and expertise.

U.S. Navy scientists researched how hagfish is being used to develop novel materials for naval applications. Photo via Ronald Newsome/Navy.

确保添加剂制造工作流程

国防部增材制造策略的最终目标是确保在3D打印工作流程及其数字线程中的网络安全,以及保护其3D打印制作和测试过程。

With this in mind, the DoD will enhance its current tools and standards to enable controlled access and use of up-to-date digital data to qualified personnel, and will work to achieve direct and secure connections between its machines and a network of approved digital frameworks and protocols. The department will also improve its quality assurance processes from raw materials management to final part validation.

Digital twin technology will also be used to validate, and prevent tampering with, the DoD’s digital supply chain, and the organization will partner with industry players to identify and implement best practices and risk management approaches for information technology – computers, software, and digital twins – and operational technology – the hardware and software to manage physical devices.

Additive manufacturing inspection and metrology practices will also be standardized alongside the development of in-situ sensing for part security validation.

一个3D打印的金属零件测试定制合金的功能。这部分显示了3D打印的几何能力,并带有新成立的陆军期货司令部的象征。通过美国陆军/大卫·麦克纳利(David McNally)的照片。
一个3D打印的金属零件测试定制合金的功能。这部分显示了3D打印的几何能力,并带有新成立的陆军期货司令部的象征。通过美国陆军/大卫·麦克纳利(David McNally)的照片。

关键的下一步

The DoD and OSD ManTech will work together to drive the additive manufacturing strategy forward, continuing to collaborate on joint activities, refine implementation plans, and sustain policy and initiatives regarding its 3D printing digital workflow.

策略中确定的目标为国防部克服当前的挑战和采用添加剂制造的障碍铺平了道路,技术成熟,劳动力专业知识的各个方面以及数据,材料和机器的可用性,预计有助于广泛占据范围美国防御领域。

Ultimately, it is hoped the strategy will provide a pathway for 3D printing to aid in the modernization of the nation’s defense through providing more lethal systems powered by innovative designs, increased material readiness, and empowering deployed personnel to solve problems wherever they are, in real-time.

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Featured image showsan M1 Abrams tank under TACOM. Photo via US Army.