Nurol Makina and MetalWorm validate WAAM for armored vehicles
Testing of the 8.5kg steel part was conducted both in laboratory settings and under operational field conditions
Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) continues to gain traction as a viable alternative to conventional manufacturing, particularly in demanding sectors such as defense. In a recent collaboration between Nurol Makina, an industrial manufacturer based in Ankara, Türkiye, and MetalWorm, a WAAM technology developer, a critical connector component for armored vehicles was successfully produced using WAAM and subjected to a comprehensive battery of tests.
The part, weighing approximately 8.5kg, was produced using steel wire feedstock and WAAM technology. After AM, it was machined to final specifications using conventional subtractive methods. The aim of this project was to assess WAAM’s suitability for producing high-performance, safety-critical components in real-world defense applications.
Testing was conducted both in laboratory settings and under operational field conditions. Over eight months, the component was installed on an armored vehicle and evaluated through destructive and non-destructive tests. The part showed no signs of failure and met all required mechanical and metallurgical performance criteria.
The findings from Nurol Makina and MetalWorm were presented at the AMC Additive Manufacturing Conference Türkiye, highlighting WAAM’s reliability and performance under extreme use cases. The successful outcome reinforces WAAM’s potential for use in prototype development, low-volume production, and time-sensitive manufacturing in the defense industry.
