U.S. Navy installs first onboard metal 3D printing system

Meltio and Phillips Corp. have worked together to install for the first time on a U.S. Navy ship a metal 3D printing system for the onboard manufacture of spare parts and repairs. The Phillips Additive Hybrid system, which integrates Meltio’s laser metal deposition head with a Haas TM-1 CNC mill, is being used on the USS Bataan.

The system prints 316L stainless steel, a prevalent material in U.S. Navy ship systems. While stainless steel additive manufacturing onboard naval ships is new, it also represents an advancement in providing sailors with industrial-level manufacturing capabilities to print individual parts for systems that previously have not been readily available without procuring the entire system at a significantly greater cost. It maximizes operational availability and reduces the demand on traditional and Navy-specific supply chains.