China shows off world largest 3D printed titanium fighter component

[Phil1]

Chinese engineering, advancing with every breached US defense industry computer.

3ders.org - China shows off world largest 3D printed titanium fighter component | 3D Printer & 3D Printing News

 

[oughtsix]

I know a guy (neighbor) that was an engineer for boeing in the 90s. He worked on some pretty cool hush hush stuff as well as commercial systems. He told me that they would occasionally let the Chinese tour the facility for some reason (students?) and then watch them go straight to kinkos or whatever and fax reams of notes and hand drawn diagrams straight back to China. It's like free R&D. Awesome.

 

[Yasherka]

...coming soon to a Harbor Freight near you.

 

[bohem]

He told me that they would occasionally let the Chinese tour the facility for some reason (students?) and then watch them go straight to kinkos or whatever and fax reams of notes and hand drawn diagrams straight back to China. It's like free R&D. Awesome.

For some fucked up reason our site leadership still does this 20 years later. As in, 3 weeks ago there was a multi-day tour of each manufacturing shop and the open access test labs on the site for them to walk through on a tour. The only thing they weren't allowed was cameras. Who knows if they had any hidden on them, they sure as heck weren't patted down prior to being let through the SecShack.

 

[High Binder]

For some fucked up reason our site leadership still does this 20 years later. As in, 3 weeks ago there was a multi-day tour of each manufacturing shop and the open access test labs on the site for them to walk through on a tour. The only thing they weren't allowed was cameras. Who knows if they had any hidden on them, they sure as heck weren't patted down prior to being let through the SecShack.

The last company I worked for did this all the time. The Chinese guys would take tours and we'd have to spend half the day covering up things with tarps before the showed up. So stupid.

 

[Sugarbug]

I'm a naval architect (almost) and work at a company that does a lot of contracting for our and other military forces.

With this type of advances in the 3d printing, I do not feel comfortable for the ship fitters and welders. Eventually, they'll have the means and resources to 3D print the entire vessel. On a production and contract stand-point, that would be AMAZING!! Margins would be greatly reduced, weld imperfections would be gone (no more welds), etc. But for the guys whose job it is to piece the structure together....

Still, it's impressive tech.

 

[John-K]

I'm a naval architect (almost) and work at a company that does a lot of contracting for our and other military forces.

With this type of advances in the 3d printing, I do not feel comfortable for the ship fitters and welders. Eventually, they'll have the means and resources to 3D print the entire vessel. On a production and contract stand-point, that would be AMAZING!! Margins would be greatly reduced, weld imperfections would be gone (no more welds), etc. But for the guys whose job it is to piece the structure together....

Still, it's impressive tech.

They would still likely need to be repaired (welded). ;-)

The piece in the original article was either machined from billet, or "printed" and finish machined. I've spent several years working with manual machining, CNC Machining, and Stereolithography (3D printing), and I've NEVER seen an SLA product with toolmarks/patterns like that.

 

[Sugarbug]

I agree there's always upkeep, but in the shipyard, there'd be far fewer fitters needed.

 

[Phil1]

I agree there's always upkeep, but in the shipyard, there'd be far fewer fitters needed.

The future of the Navy: Print me a cruiser!

April 4, 2013

The 3D printing revolution will radically change naval construction and logistics, writes two junior Navy officers in Proceedings, the influential journal of the U.S. Naval Institute.

Navy lieutenants Scott Cheney-Peters and Matthew Hipple think that 3D printing will impact the Navy on designing and building everything, ranging from ships, submarines, aircraft to everything carried on board....
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130404-the-future-of-the-navy-print-me-a-cruiser.html

May.22, 2013

The U.S. Navy could soon use 3D printing to shake up current supply chains, sea basing and even maritime strategy, said Lieutenant Commander Michael Llenza, author of article "Print when ready, Gridley" published on Armed Forces Journal.
Making parts

3D printing was described by Neil Gershenfeld of MIT, as a process of making "things into data and data back into things." So instead of actual parts, a ship might carry 3D printers and bags of various powdered ingredients, and simply download the design files needed to print items as necessary, wrote Llenza.

In the near future, sailors and Marines would be able to send an email with a digital scan or design for a part they need and have it created at the nearest certified printer. According to Llenza, the Navy of the future could include floating factory ships that can take print-on-demand orders from the battlegroup.
Printing ammunition

Llenza also believes that future 3D printers might be able to make not only ammunition casings, but also their energetic components. They invited Virginia Tech's 3-D printing labs to the base and the researchers believe the idea is worth exploring that 3D printing might be able to produce propellants with geometries that provide better and more efficient burn rates. Llenza said at least the technology could be used to fill supply gaps and customize ammunition for specific targets.
3ders.org - 3-D printing could shake up U.S. Navy's supply chains | 3D Printer & 3D Printing News

 

[Sugarbug]

Yeah, I came across that article a few months back.

It makes perfect sense. Rather than having a finite number of parts on board that they think they might need, they can just bring enough of the printing media to make what they need as it occurs. From a design standpoint, the benefits are space savings as they aren't going to need the room to store 10 extra X parts.

Really exciting advance in technology.

 

[oughtsix]

They would still likely need to be repaired (welded). ;-)

The piece in the original article was either machined from billet, or "printed" and finish machined. I've spent several years working with manual machining, CNC Machining, and Stereolithography (3D printing), and I've NEVER seen an SLA product with toolmarks/patterns like that.

Are 3D printed metals more like castings or forgings? It would seem to me that they are more like castings, which would pose problems to welding, right? I've never welded cast, just heard it was a bitch to do right.

 

[Doka]

They would still likely need to be repaired (welded). ;-)

The piece in the original article was either machined from billet, or "printed" and finish machined. I've spent several years working with manual machining, CNC Machining, and Stereolithography (3D printing), and I've NEVER seen an SLA product with toolmarks/patterns like that.

I was thinking the same..im far from being an expert but it looked machined to me and I tend to agree it was 'printed' and then finish machined