US Naval Surface Warfare Center adds metal Additive Manufacturing capacity
June 17, 2019
Chuck Self, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division Additive Manufacturing Laboratory Head, prepares the EOS M290 by loading powdered metal (Courtesy US Navy / Eddie Green)
The Additive Manufacturing Laboratory (AML) at the US Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) has installed its first metal Additive Manufacturing system, an EOS M290. Chuck Self, NSWC PCD AML Head, stated, “There are many advantages to having access to a metal 3D printer. Major advantages include reduction in time to complete prints, reproducibility, and the complexity of parts available for print.”
“NSWC PCD’s goal is to produce efficient and quality products to the warfighter,” he added, “and this printer will allow our engineers and scientists to create strong and complex products in a shorter time frame.”
A metal additively manufactured part produced on the EOS M290 by Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (Courtesy US Navy / Eddie Green)
Nicole Waters, NSWC PCD Machine Shops Project Manager, said the addition of the metal AM system allows NSWC PCD to effectively create a collaboration and innovation network for Additive Manufacturing internal to the base. “Having the metal 3D printer in-house at NSWC PCD allows us to make parts that are customisable to the customer’s needs vice lengthy ordering lead times,” she stated.
“This gives our scientists and engineers the opportunity to work one-on-one with the AML personnel to get their product built exactly the way they want. We encourage the One Team motto in the AML and want to create the highest quality parts for our fleet projects and research prototypes.”
If you have any questions, please contact the AML team at any time. If it is determined that metal 3D printing may not work for your project, other printing options are available as well.
