Additive Manufacturing makes headway at NAVAIR Lakehurst Published Aug. 5, 2014 By Elyse Fetherman Naval Air Systems Command Lakehurst JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, has been quite the buzzword lately. From the printing of biomedical implants, to firearms, to high-fashion, the topic has received an interesting amount of recent press for a not-so-nouveaux technology (3D printing first debuted in the 80s). Fast forward two decades later, AM continues to mature exponentially and has sprouted some rapidly moving legs. NAVAIR's Lakehurst site at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is no stranger to this expansion in technology and has readily adopted and welcomed the benefits afforded by 3D printing. NAVAIR Lakehurst currently owns two 3D printers with a third in the works. Further efforts to integrate AM into the NAVAIR Lakehurst culture are spearheaded by John Schmelzle. The former head of the Support Equipment (SE) Design and Analysis branch recently transitioned into a one-year position as SE and Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) Department AM and Model Based Design (MBD) Initiative lead. Schmelzle has been an integral part of bringing AM to Lakehurst. Upon graduating from the Naval Leadership Development Program, Schmelzle was tasked to think up a world-changing idea. "My idea was to use 3D printing to eliminate the entire logistics process," said Schmelzle who added that his dream also included the ability to print parts shipboard. Eric Merk, the Logistics and Maintenance Information Systems and Technology Division head at NAVAIR Lakehurst and the Deputy AM Integrated Program Team lead for NAVAIR's Command Initiative on AM, said, "As parts become more transferrable to additive based solutions, the implications to logistics support are gigantic in scope." He explained that AM has the potential to allow maintainers to rethink consumable versus repairable criteria due in part to the turnaround time and fielding capability provided by AM. He said that it also had the potential to reduce and eliminate packaging, handling, storage and transportation requirements as well. Unlike subtractive manufacturing which depends on the milling of stock materials to produce an end item, additive manufacturing builds up the 3D end product through the layering of materials. Lakehurst's first 3D printer was purchased in 2007 for "risk reduction in the design process," explained Schmelzle. "I always had the vision it could do so much more." Schmelzle, his local team and the NAVAIR Command-wide team having been working to determine how much more. "3D printing has the ability for rapid response," said Schmelzle. In addition to printing parts on-demand, AM "has the ability to optimize design," said Schmelzle, adding that 3D printing can produce better, lighter equipment. "AM, when fully realized will be a paradigm shift in how we think of traditional supply support functions," said Merk. With AM also comes increased collaboration and communication -- a benefit that Eric Kline, a project team lead for the Prototyping and Manufacturing Division and one of Schmelzle's teammates, called "fantastic." Kline said that AM has required a lot of collaboration within NAVAIR. Historically, manufacturing was the last participant in the process, explained Kline. "Manufacturing is being brought into the conversation very much ahead of time," said Kline of AM's collaborative nature, adding that it will encourage more communication between design, materials, manufacturing and Quality Assurance (QA) personnel. Furthermore, AM provides true design flexibility. "AM will enhance our capabilities," said Kline. "AM gives us the opportunity to make designs that we couldn't traditionally." Kline said he sees the SE portfolio as a potential early adopter of AM. Schmelzle said he wants to use SE as the "proving ground," and several parts have already been printed additively. That is not to say that ALRE has been discounted. Schmelzle explained that one of Vice Adm. David Dunaways's, NAVAIR Commander, focuses has been on the ability to 3D print flight-critical parts. With that push comes questions about material certification. Schmelzle said this involves "knowing the materials and having confidence in the materials." Sean Loftus, a materials engineer and one of Schmelzle's local AM teammates, said that he sees the material differences in AM as a potential roadblock, but also as an opportunity. "It gives us the opportunity to think about things differently." He said the AM raises a lot of questions. "The materials emphasis is going to be identifying every single question you (materials engineers) have." "We rely on exact," said Loftus who explained the need to have a high level of confidence in materials. One solution that the team is exploring is the use of computed tomography scanners to aid in this process. "It's a great opportunity to investigate more encompassing NDI (non-destructive inspection)," said Kline. Another challenge inherent to 3D printing is the documentation of the design. Schmelzle said that AM provides the capability to create complex designs; however, the designs have the potential to be too complex to document in a 2D drawing. MBD, said Schmelzle, allows such designs to be properly documented. In MBD, the entire design process is done in the 3D environment as opposed to the traditional design process of converting between 3D to 2D throughout different parts of the process. In a pilot that collected data across 50 products, MBD generated monetary savings in the areas of part fabrication, assembly and QA. Additionally, Schmelzle said he expects to see a reduction in manufacturing errors and improved quality. "It's a lot more intuitive to look at something in 3D vice 2D," he said. Despite all of its benefits, gaps still exist for the full implementation of MBD which include the need for a 3D technical data package and controlled standards. "It's important to communicate the design downstream in an effective, sustainable format," said Kline. File conversions from the original computer aided design file, to a neutral format and then into a vendor format also raises concerns. "We need to ensure the design intent is going to be maintained throughout the digital lifecycle of the file," said Kline. "AM is not the perfect technology," cautioned Loftus; however, he emphasized that it does have the potential to be the perfect technology for specific areas. He said he does not believe that it will replace traditional manufacturing but rather, "it's a big supplement." Schmelzle and his team have been very vocal in promoting MBD and AM across NAVAIR and industry. The team has worked with the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State on additively manufacturing a hydraulic manifold, briefed at the National Institute of Standards Technology Model-Based Enterprise Summit and sent members to attend the Naval Additive Manufacturing Technological Interchange. Schmelzle was also an integral part of hosting the Massive Multiplayer Online War Game Leveraging the Internet (MMOWGLI), which invited participants to take place in a digital card-playing game with various messages, questions and scenarios. The MMOWGLI utilized crowd sourcing to begin generating ideas on how AM could be utilized. More recently, Kathleen Donnelly, director for the SE and ALRE Department at NAVAIR Lakehurst, spoke at NAVAIR's AM Industry Day on July 24. Schmelzle also presented and several members of his local team and the national team were in attendance. In the coming months, NAVAIR Lakehurst is looking to expand its AM capabilities. The procurement of a new 3D printer is one step in the right direction. Schmelzle has also pursued several avenues to continue promoting MBD and to compare 2D and 3D design processes. He is also looking to establish training courses and AM design courses. "There are different challenges in AM, but a lot of opportunity you've never seen before," said Schmelzle. "Currently, an engineer designs things to be made with conventional manufacturing technologies. This constraint limits an engineer's designs. With 3D printing, a design is only limited by the engineer's imagination."