Aerospace & Defense Technology - December 2023 - 5

Additive Manufacturing
(Left) 107-155mm-high-explosive projectiles with fused-adapter. (Right) In January 2023, BAE Systems received a 15-year U.K. Ministry of Defence contract under
" Next Generation Munitions Solution " (NGMS) to refurbish and upgrade its manufacturing lines to produce 155mm artillery shells.
vate aviation - right now. Rocket turbopumps
and nozzles, pumps, fuel tanks
and injectors, turbine blades, fins and
ducts and inlets, microturbines, combustors,
stator rings, and operational ramjets
- are among the high-performance AM
components and systems already successfully
in service. These have met the
strenuous benchmarks of performance,
durability, speed-of-manufacture, and
cost-to-function metrics.
AM and Distributed Manufacturing
for Military Parts
Key to spreading out risk, overcoming
logistics issues, and speeding up delivery
of miliary parts is further expansion of
networks of AM-enabled manufacturing
sites at U.S. and Allied locations around
Mk 46 CONTINUOUS
ROD WARHEAD
the globe. As envisioned, these defenseowned,
or commercial contract-manufacturing
(CM) sites, would ideally
contain dedicated equipment for mass
production but also deploy AM in a consolidated,
post-processing environment
of CNCs, lathes, milling, grinding, cutting,
heat treating and inspection tools.
Add to these flexible, automated
handling systems and there is the
opportunity for efficiently combining
high-volume production of items such
as shells to run alongside the fast-tooling
and fast-production capabilities of
AM. Because metal AM can turn around
hard tooling in three to six weeks (rather
than months for casting molds), this
would speed delivery of tooling for
shells and other high-pressure die-cast
AIR TURBINE
HYDRAULIC
PUMP
PILOT FUEL
INJECTORS
MAIN FUEL
INJECTORS
(HPDC) military parts. What's more,
AM can provide the added benefit of
directly addressing immediate, on-demand
fulfilment of shorter lifecycle
components such as muzzle brakes,
along with helping scale up production
of propulsion hardware for higher technology
missile systems.
Furthermore - because AM tooling
can incorporate conformal-cooling
channels that closely match part geometry
in mold inserts and cores - it also
enhances production by improving
yields and extending tooling life. AM
is a broad solution for shortening tooling
creation times, reducing associated
part-production times, increasing yields,
and providing for fast, direct part-replacement
of military components.
TALOS RIM-8E - RIM-8J
ELECTRONICS
COMPARTMENTS
Copyright © 2009 Phillip R. Hays
AIR TURBINE
FUEL PUMP
FUEL
TANK
PILOT
BURNER
FLAME
HOLDER
NOZZLE
This early Talos missile represents a typical Ramjet design. Many parts of military systems, such as those above, can be made quickly using AM. The DoD sees digital
manufacturing, including AM, as a means to strengthen and diversify the supply base. Reference paper: Talos Rim-8 Guided Missile by Phillip R. Hays PhD LT USNR-R.
Aerospace & Defense Technology, December 2023
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Aerospace & Defense Technology - December 2023

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