Soaring beyond the hype: Industry experts get real about AM’s future
Additive manufacturing (AM) has taken flight throughout aerospace and defense (A&D) manufacturing, with myriad benefits and seemingly unlimited potential. But there’s also been a long runway of hype, false starts and challenges.
To help make sense of AM’s current role, future opportunities and upward boundaries, we asked five industry experts for their insights.
The group, a mix of developers, suppliers, manufacturers and end users, includes:
Their written responses follow below.
What are some recent advances you’ve seen?
Rivera: Large-format machines and machine repeatability at scale are starting to become prevalent among a few machine OEMs. This is needed for the industry to further adopt metal AM.
Kelly: Improved design optimization tools and advanced simulation techniques have led to lighter, more efficient components that meet stringent performance requirements. Further, novel AM platforms are allowing for manufacturing of components larger than ever. This summer, U.S. Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center, together with U.S. Army TACOM, installed the world’s largest free-form, hybrid metal-3D printer at Rock Island Arsenal – Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center. The machine is capable of five-axis machining and three-axis printing with additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) in a volume of 30 x 20 x 12 ft. (9.1 x 6 x 3.7 m).
Lang: The ability to harness the power of data and in-situ monitoring to inform the testing/qualification/certification process. The ability to combine traditional with additive manufacturing to create superior components. For example, adding material or features to traditionally made components. The ability to go big! Certain AM processes lend themselves well to scaling to large sizes, creating components printed in a single build or replacing forged parts that have supply chain issues.
And space and safety-critical applications?
Fu: There have been huge advances in AM for space exploration... particularly in the last few years with successful hot-fire tests and demonstration flights, which is astonishing and encouraging to see, and a great validation of the technology.
Gardner: Recently several A&D customers have recognized that DED-arc—wire-based, directed-energy deposition with gas-metal arc welding (GMAW)—is ready for adoption and implementation. The strong heritage of GMAW and the decades of trust for safety critical structures is leveraged in the qualification standards, acceptance criteria and inspection standards that allow DED-arc AM components to be accepted for use. The wealth of documentation from ASME, AWS, ASM, SAE, ASTM, Navy and NASA provides engineers multiple options for assembling a technical data package that addresses qualification, inspection and acceptance criteria. We confidently drive over bridges in vehicles every day, both of which are produced, accepted and trusted on this very technology. The clear notion that we routinely place our trust in this technology is encouraging A&D engineers, product managers and leaders to take advantage of the supply chain solutions, part integrations and digital inventory benefits of DED-arc additive manufactured components.
How are volume thresholds changing for AM?
Kelly: High-mix, low-volume production is still a common thread for AM, especially in the defense industry. The ability to manufacture spare parts on demand without the need for specialty tooling is a distinct advantage over traditional processes on both cost and lead-time. However, proper design for AM (DfAM) can increase volume production thresholds. For example, part count consolidation can reduce the overall cost of an assembly, making higher volume AM production more affordable. Further, DfAM can be leveraged to design parts capable of meeting requirements that traditional parts and designs cannot, therefore requiring increased production volume thresholds to meet those requirements.
Rivera: As machines and modalities are growing larger, throughput is naturally increasing.
Gardner: Traditional A&D programs have suffered from the development cycles that were limited to block upgrades. Component improvements and technology developments have been held hostage by the limitations of platform structural manufacturing that requires tooling, fixtures and specialized jigs. The digital product definition inherent with additive manufactured products enables A&D program managers to consider shorter production runs before block upgrade. This allows the best product option for our warfighters and a competitive advantage on the battlefield.
What are some of the biggest opportunities?
Lang: In the near term, the ability to make and repair parts on demand that perform at the same level as traditionally made components. On the horizon is the ability to think of materials on a continuum rather than a discrete basis, enabling parts that perform superior to their traditionally made counterparts.
Gardner: Supply chain management is largely driven by a culture of risk mitigation. The opportunities presented by having a digital inventory for products serve this mitigation as well as providing financial benefits of reducing physical inventories. The opportunities to create digital inventories of essential parts, assemblies and products would serve as an additional strategic deterrent for a kinetic war. Although it is important to recognize that a digital inventory is not a paper study, and it requires discipline to create.
Should the DoD create prototypes and develop first articles for validation and acceptance that serve as second source or alternate products in time of need, the DoD would be more prepared in conflict. By investing in creating, validating and then archiving digital inventories of weapon systems, domestic manufacturers could focus on scaling AM factories, producing low-rate production of these products, and then offering that manufacturing capacity to other industries and markets.
Fu: Additive manufacturing allows for flexibility in design, reduced part count and the production of parts that could not be produced by traditional methods. With increased use of AI and algorithmic design, etc., we are really pushing beyond the boundaries of what can be done with innovations in design, and that is exciting. This next generation is not afraid of out-of-the-box thinking.
Rivera: Breaking down the silos of material datasets is going to exponentially increase the adoption of AM.
Kelly: In the next five to 10 years, I think that there will be a significant opportunity for the defense industry to leverage secure, well-trained, large-language, model-based chat bots to inform manufacturing decisions. At home, ChatGPT can tell me how to leverage the inventory I have within my workshop to complete a project. In 10 years, I think defense contractors will be able to leverage tools like this to quickly identify supply streams (both additive and traditional) to manufacture their products in the most efficient way possible based on a unique set of requirements.
How about the flip side—your biggest challenges?
Gardner: One of the biggest challenges is overcoming the hype. Additive manufacturing is fundamentally a manufacturing capability. It is not something to pick up on the side. The machines do not magically transform casual users into manufacturers. There is an important difference between battle-damage repair and reliable rate manufacturing. And factories dedicated to additive are the most appropriate place to have development, prototyping, first articles and production made. The hype has encouraged side projects and incomplete investments toward strategies that underestimate the necessity of manufacturing support functions. As A&D customers realize that they have outsourced foundry operations, metal forming and product-finishing operations to focused, capable and experienced suppliers for a reason; A&D customers will also realize that the same business case and required level of dedication exists for AM products.
Lang: The ability to rapidly qualify AM processes and certify parts will be key to advancing the technology and adoption rates.
Kelly: Addressing concerns with material and equipment quality and standards is always at the top of this list. However, something not talked about as much is the challenge in quantifying the financial advantages (or disadvantages) to AM. It is easier to justify AM with lead-time and performance arguments than cost. For example, we have all heard before that if we can reduce part count in our systems through design for AM, it will reduce the costs associated with configuration management of those parts. However, if this cannot be quantified and supported with data, it will be very difficult to convince a project manager to make a change.
Has the A&D industry learned to design for additive? If not, what obstacles remain?
Lang: Although progress has been made, design for additive remains an important area for training and development. Design for additive is also not one size fits all; different processes have different capabilities and limitations, so the design phase should account for the specific process as well. This is similar to traditional manufacturing: Design with the process and end state in mind.
Rivera: There is still some growth to be had in designing for AM. Culture is the biggest barrier to adoption.
What types of applications are you targeting?
Kelly: The Jointless Hull tool at Rock Island Arsenal – JMTC can be an alternative source for production, prototype or even repair of large metal castings, forgings and weldments. In the short term, low volume is ideal as Jointless Hull is the only AFSD industry machine with a working volume greater than 13 x 10 x 3 ft (4 x 3 x 0.9 m). As the technology proliferates, volume production thresholds will increase.
Fu: The more established laser AM processes that I tend to focus on are laser-powder-bed fusion and laser DED (directed energy deposition). Laser-wire DED is also slowly expanding, but I think the use of wire feedstock has huge potential given wire’s advantages as we consider printing in a low-gravity environment (say, on other planetary bodies!).
Rivera: Lightweighting and lead time reduction parts are synonymous in aerospace applications.
Gardner: Big Metal Additive produces four products: prototypes, first articles, low-rate production and full-rate production. We have customers in two main categories (i) pressure containing structures and (ii) complex integrated architectures. Many of the pressure containing structures are casting replacements. These can range from valve bodies to propellant tanks to cryogenic vessels. The complex integrated architectures are best represented by unmanned vehicles integrated into a unitized structural hull.
How is automation affecting AM?
Lang: Automation can reduce the total cost of ownership for AM equipment, and it doesn’t necessarily mean significant investment in new types of hardware, but rather the ability of the existing systems to run autonomously and repeatably without the need for skilled operators to attend the systems.
How much growth in production AM parts do you see in the coming years?
Kelly: In the next three to five years, I expect to see significant growth in production AM parts, especially for non-critical components. Over the next 10-15 years, as material choices expand, standards are further developed, suppliers become certified and processes become qualified, AM adoption is expected to increase for load-bearing components.
Rivera: Industry will continue to adopt AM, and I think you will see another $2-3 billion in growth in three to five years and $8-10 billion in 10-15 years.
Gardner: We are planning to be a factory of 100 machines, producing parts for a wide variety of customers. Some of the product developments we are producing for A&D customers have potential timelines that would expand our factory to 30 machines in the next five years. We expect that within 10 years we will achieve our milestone of 100 machines. The growth has been increasing and we expect other companies like ours to take advantage of the decades of confidence GMAW safety-critical products have generated. We expect more companies to take advantage of the many options to assemble technical data packages from existing standards for product acceptance.
What types of materials hold the most promise and why?
Gardner: Metal alloys that have existing product forms and manufacturing supply—and are equivalently comparable to existing structural materials—hold the most promise. For instance, a common A&D manufacturing alloy is aluminum 6061. An equivalently comparable aluminum alloy for AM is aluminum 2319. The composition is essentially identical to aluminum 2219, which has a strong heritage on space shuttles, heavy lift rockets and the International Space Station. The material composition is well understood, trusted and available. The prevalence of 2319 as an available wire feedstock places additive manufactured aluminum A&D products well within reach, removing hurdles and uncertainty of new, unfamiliar alloys. A surge of product replacements, upgrades and new products could pave the way and expand product adoptions. New alloys will come later, after the confidence is earned with familiar compositions.
Rivera: High-temperature capable alloys and aluminum alloys will continue to hold the most promise as space and aerospace have a lot of areas of application.
Fu: I am excited to see development in other titanium alloys, and not just the workhorse alloy Ti-6Al-4V or even Ti-6242, but beta alloys such as Ti-10-2-3 and Ti-555-3. The “high-strength” beta alloys are usually forged and heat treated to develop strength up to 200-220 ksi (similar to some steels). So by 3D printing these materials, we may avoid some of the distortion effects seen in alpha-beta alloys because these alloys are more beta-stabilized. I’m also very excited for more AM applications of high-strength aluminum alloys that have low-cost strengthening mechanisms. These materials are less exposed to supply-chain risks, so they should be more readily available and at a lower cost. By using more versatile materials for 3D printing, we also create greater sustainability.
Kelly: Materials with high strength-to-weight ratios, high temperature resistance, chemical and corrosion resistance, and excellent mechanical properties are always at the top of the list. If we’re able to take advantage of the increased design complexity afforded by AM and couple it with the performance inherent to advanced materials, then we stand to benefit the greatest from a part and system performance standpoint. That being said, there is still so much that we can do from a design-for-additive standpoint to take advantage of the more standard AM materials we know and love.
Why should A&D be excited about the future of AM?
Fu: Over the last few years, there has been a tremendous amount of hype and excitement—some warranted and some not—about the use of 3D printing for everything from aerospace to medical, automotive, marine and consumer products. Now that the hype has died down a bit, we are settling into the reality of additive manufacturing—what it can and can’t do. You still cannot simply print everything, nor should you, but it is exciting to explore the potential opportunities for manufacturing with additive where it makes sense.
Kelly: The A&D industry is witnessing transformative changes through AM. New design and manufacturing capabilities are being leveraged to come up with disruptive AM solutions to decades-old manufacturing problems. Further, innovation in tech is primed for having an impact on how we leverage the AM supply chain for A&D. However, continued collaboration, research and industry wide standardization efforts are essential to unlocking the full potential of AM in this sector.
Connect With Us
