AM on Ships: U.S. Navy Study on the Impact of Motion on AM Part Performance

This presentation will be a briefing on the technical results of a NAVSEA-funded study that concluded in October 2024. The Navy, and NAVSEA in particular, would like to implement additive manufacturing (AM) on ships in order to solve various supply chain problems. Though promising, doing so raises challenges due to various environmental conditions that exist on a ship that generally do not exist when operating an AM machine in a lab. Namely, ships experience a notable amount of motion and vibration.
It was previously unknown how, if at all, motion and vibration would impact the performance of an AM machine and the quality of the parts produced. The effects of these environmental factors had never previously been studied in a systematic and deliberate fashion.
This program studied the impact of linear motion and vibration on AM part performance. In other words, if the AM machine literally moves back and forth or experiences vibration while it is running, will that impact the mechanical properties of the parts produced?
In the program, Nylon6 Carbon Fiber Blend specimens were printed on a Markforged X7 machine. The machine was mounted to equipment that either a) generated vibration at various frequencies and amplitudes, or b) moved the machine in a linear motion back and forth at various speeds and g-forces.
Machine learning models were used to analyze the material data from the specimens. In addition to the environmental variables (motion and vibration frequencies and amplitudes), other variables that were studied included infill geometry, layer height, infill percentage, wall layers, location on the build plate, ambient temperature, and ambient humidity.
This presentation will detail the technical results of the linear motion study. In addition, this presentation will brief the audience on how these results impact the U.S. Navy’s anticipated use of AM on ships.