Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Juan Herreragonzalez works with 3-D printed molds at an Army research facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, Jan. 12, 2017. (Photo Credit: David McNally, ARL Public Affairs)
Posted on 02/01/2017 7:53:28 AM PST by SandRat
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- For Marine Corps aviators, hydraulics are critical part of performing all the heavy lifting required during aircraft operations.
Marine Cpl. Habtamu Sharew and Lance Cpl. Juan Herreragonzalez know that better than anyone. The two are hydraulic mechanics from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 29 in Jacksonville, North Carolina. They work specifically on the hydraulics systems.
Not long ago, they entered their idea for streamlining hydraulic line maintenance into the 2016 Marine Corps Logistic Innovation Challenge. Out of more than 300 entries, theirs was chosen as one of 18 to move to the next step. That brought them to an Army research facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
"All the birds rely on heavy hydraulic systems for landing gear, for flaps, you name it," Herreragonzalez said. "This is what we've been dealing with, and we came up with a pretty good prototype."
The Corps partnered with various Department of Defense laboratories, such as the Army Research Laboratory and its sister organizations, the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, to leverage 3-D printing and additive manufacturing capabilities.
Army engineers worked closely with the Marines for a week to devise a 3-D printed flexible tube that can be shaped on site and then brought back to the shop, where a metal tube can be bent in the same exact shape, replicating the tube being replaced.
Lance Hall, AMRDEC mechanical engineer, said the project was a rare opportunity to work with "boots on the ground."
"We don't often get to do that. We're stuck in our labs," he said. "We're doing our science projects. So when we're able to get input and say 'Hey we need something.' That's a little extra exuberance when we do our job."
"It's like these guys need it," he added. "Let's go out there and make it happen for them."
Sharew's weeklong experience working alongside Army researchers gave him some valuable insight about the future of 3-D printing. He predicts DOD will soon be relying on additive manufacturing to manufacture parts as needed.
"I'm pretty sure we're going to get there because from what I've seen the job that takes us a while with 3-D printing it was done just like that and it's really amazing," he said. "I'm pretty sure that's going to be the future for DOD in general."
Bradley Ruprecht, ECBC engineering technician and model maker, agreed.
"The big pie in the sky future idea is to have additive manufacturing in the field to help reduce supply chain costs, but also [reduce] the time to get things," he said. "You can just build it at your forward operating base."
The purpose of the Marine Corps Logistics Innovation Challenge is to inspire solutions and then mature those ideas into a fielded capability.
"First of all, there's no bad idea out there. It's really up to that Marine to take the initiative and take it to the next step," Sharew said. "With us, we had the idea for a long time, but when the Marine Corps came out with the Innovation Challenge, that was our opportunity, and it paid off."
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The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, currently celebrating 25 years of excellence in Army science and technology, is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to provide innovative research, development and engineering to produce capabilities that provide decisive overmatch to the Army against the complexities of the current and future operating environments in support of the joint warfighter and the nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
They want to replicate a tube used in their hydraulic systems
with a 3D duplicate using a non-metalic material. Then use the replica to produce a metal tube to be used in the hydraulic system.
Why not just make up a drawing of the tube and send the drawing to the shop and have them build the metal tube from the drawing? I think that would be cheaper.
As I was told by many younsgters, (2Lts and more than a few CPTs), your thinking Old School, the way it used to be done.
The 3D printer actually produces a CAD drawing electronically from wich it prints the device. Rather than spend tax payer money on a 3D machine they can use standard procedures and use a drawing because it costs less. Hopefully reducing costs is not considered old school!
Possibilities are endless especially at a military application standpoint.
Believe me, 3D printing is the wave of the future. You can do things and make products and designs that machine shops could only dream of. Actual skyhooks!
Most if not all of todays youngsters have no idea how to do make anything by hand. If a machine doen’t make a ready made part they start to cry.
My brother, who works at an engineering school, agrees with you.
“Believe me, 3D printing is the wave of the future. “
Can 3D printing make “strong” things or can they only deposit bits of plastic?
Can 3D printing make something as strong as cast or forged steel?
Not yet. I've heard of a system that uses wire fed arc deposition, but haven't chased it down. It's a matter of time and development. One other is ceramic paste deposition, which is then fired. Coors Ceramics used to give out ceramic ball peen hammers as a sales sample. The materials possibilities are there.
It boils down to imagination, and someone tinkering in a garage...
I'm thinking that it's much easier to work with shaping a plastic tube to conform to a shape, rather than doing so with a rigid metal tube. They need to experiment in order to get the right shape, something they can't draw up in advance.
On my 3D printer, I've printed some ABS parts, placed them in a bath of acetone vapors and reshaped them to conform to what I want. Then I can redesign the CAD version to match it and do a regular print of the part. Sometimes easier just to go with the reshaped via acetone bath. For a stronger part, I'll reprint in nylon material to match the reshaped ABS part.
“It boils down to imagination, and someone tinkering in a garage...
I agree. For now seems to me the major uses would be pattern making and prototype making to see how the pieces fit together.
I think there’s a youtube video of a 3D-printed house (walls) where the printer squirted out little streams of mortar mix. The video was a little sneaky, like it didn’t show how the cement was moved from a mixer to the print head.
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