Boosting readiness with mobile, ruggedized metal AM

Australian company SPEE3D has long served industries that require robust and agile manufacturing solutions for production and maintenance, such as defense, maritime and resource extraction. The company’s specialty, cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM), has been a good fit for these sectors due to the technology’s ability to produce cast-equivalent parts on demand and its exceptionally rapid solid-state process, which sprays metal powders at supersonic speeds to build up metal parts. Now, SPEE3D has taken its metal additive manufacturing solution to the next level with its Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit (EMU), a mobile unit that allows users to deploy end-to-end metal AM at the point of need and become less reliant on fragile supply chains.

The Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit (EMU)

First unveiled in spring 2024, SPEE3D’s EMU is an end-to-end solution that consists of the ruggedized XSPEE3D 3D printer and the SPEE3Dcell post-processing and testing unit, which are both packed into two 20-foot shipping containers for easy transportation and deployment.

The XSPEE3D 3D printer, based on SPEE3D’s CSAM technology, was specifically designed to print and repair parts in remote locations and tough conditions. The machine, which has a large build volume of up to ⌀0.9 x 0.7 meters, can print parts at a rate of 100g/minute from a variety of metals, including aluminum, aluminum bronze, stainless steel and copper. This machine, we should point out, is containerized whether purchased as part of the EMU or a standalone system.

The SPEE3Dcell, for its part, is the second critical piece of the EMU. This system is an integrated post-processing unit that combines a three-axis CNC machine, two heat treatment furnaces (one sintering furnace and one aging furnace), as well as tooling and testing equipment for evaluating and validating metal parts on location. This multi-component solution is also packed securely into a twist-lock container for streamlined deployment and transport. The entire EMU system can be transported on a single platform, whether on a truck, ship or cargo aircraft.

“The launch of our Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit addresses the current state of the global supply chain, which is fragile and increasingly under pressure,” explained SPEE3D CEO Byron Kennedy at the time of EMU’s launch. “Part of the issue for defense and other heavy industries is getting critical equipment up and running quickly to avoid costly production delays. EMU will enable [defense organizations] to take control, giving them the ability to print and post-process parts very quickly from anywhere.”

Ruggedized, efficient, agile

For end users, the benefits of SPEE3D’s Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit are clear: not only is the end-to-end production solution transportable and ruggedized, it also increases manufacturing and repair efficiency dramatically. According to SPEE3D, while it may take weeks to make or source a replacement metal part using casting and traditional supply chains, EMU enables end users to produce components in mere hours—and near the point of need, eliminating the need for complex logistics.

Moreover, SPEE3D’s CSAM process is intuitive and cost efficient compared to some other metal additive manufacturing processes (because unlike LPBF, cold spray processes do not require expensive gases and energy-intensive lasers). In fact, the technology does not even require the use of heat, since it produces full-density metal parts through ultrasonic cold spraying, which fuses metal particles through the generation of kinetic energy. You might be asking why then does the SPEE3Dcell integrate two heat treatment machines. Simply because these systems can improve the properties of CSAM prints, increasing material toughness and removing any potential defects in the material’s structure to meet the stringent requirements of mission-critical parts.

Like heat treatments, CNC machining is not an absolute requisite when finishing CSAM parts, however it is useful to ensure that printed metal parts or repairs have the correct tolerances. Additional finishing techniques, like surfacing and polishing, can also be carried out depending on the application requirements. In the end, including all these industrial post-processing options in the EMU package ensures that end users can meet the requirements of even the most demanding mission-critical applications.

SPEE3D’s EMU also features several automations, including automated robotics and software systems that ease the training requirements for using the metal AM solution and thus streamline its integration into sustainment operations.

Defense, maritime & beyond

To date, SPEE3D’s expeditionary 3D printing solution has primarily been adopted by defense groups and militaries, which are benefiting from the enhanced operational readiness that the technology unlocks. However, the SPEE3D EMU can have equally significant advantages for other industries, like maritime and resource extraction, which can utilize the mobile system for repairing ship parts at the nearest port, or printing replacement components directly at mining sites, for example.

In the defense sector, SPEE3D’s EMU was selected for two trial projects: Trident Warrior—part of the U.S. DoD’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise—and the U.S. Navy’s SALVEX exercise. Both exercises, based in Hawaii, are evaluating the capabilities of the expeditionary solution and its viability for repairing and replacing equipment in adverse environments.

In the Trident Warrior exercise, which successfully wrapped this past summer, a team of engineers from the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education (CAMRE) 3D printed a series of 11 cast-equivalent metal parts for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. The parts, made from aluminum and stainless steel, were printed and finished using the EMU and were tested thoroughly to validate their material properties to ensure that the metal AM process met requirements. Ultimately, the Trident Warrior exercise was a success, as SPEE3D’s solution demonstrated it could minimize production and delivery times for critical metal parts and strengthen military supply chains in a contested environment.

The SALVEX exercise was organized by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. As part of the exercise, U.S. Navy reservists “saved” a ship that was severely damaged at sea and towed back to port by leveraging the Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit to print critical metal parts.

The exercise ultimately aims to validate the use of CSAM for ship repair in critical conditions. “Ensuring the security of our nation requires technology that can successfully work in all environments—including at sea,” said a Navy spokesperson. “Supply chain issues are prevalent, so being able to manufacture metal parts quickly and from anywhere is a huge issue that we’re excited to test and hopefully resolve.”

In addition to these military use cases, SPEE3D has an impressive array of partnerships in the military sphere, including with the U.S. Army, the British Army, The Australian Army and the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force. In the maritime sector—you can read extensively about the company’s activities in this industry in our 2024 Maritime AM eBook—SPEE3D has collaborated with NAVSEA and various international navies.

Ultimately, SPEE3D’s Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit is a versatile solution that stands apart in the broader metal additive manufacturing industry for its robustness and mobility. Today, the EMU is uniquely positioned to empower end users—in defense, maritime, energy and beyond—to boost their operational readiness by 3D printing, post-processing and validating cast-equivalent metal parts in just hours and—crucially—at the point of need, whether it’s on the front lines, aboard a ship, or at the mine.

This article was originally published in VoxelMatters’ VM Focus Metal AM eBook. Read or download the full eBook for free at this link.