rpm and amsight develop 3D printed padding system for EOD helmets
Lattice-based AM approach replaces traditional foam in explosive ordnance disposal protective equipment – data-driven quality assurance underpins serial production
Additive manufacturing is being extensively deployed in military applications, across a range of equipment, vehicle parts, UAVs, and much more.
Safety gear is one such area, and rapid product manufacturing GmbH (rpm) has developed and produced a 3D printed internal padding system for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) helmets, in partnership with amsight GmbH, Farsoon, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA).
The additively manufactured padding uses a lattice structure in place of conventional foam materials, enabling engineers to locally tune mechanical properties — including stiffness and damping behavior — across different areas of the head. This level of localized protection can be critical.
The open lattice geometry also reduces overall material use, which lowers component weight while supporting ventilation and simplifying helmet cleaning.
The padding components were produced on Farsoon industrial 3D printing systems. The Chinese company’s open system architecture and adjustable process parameters provide the necessary process stability required for a safety-critical serial production.
rpm handled the design, material selection, and manufacturing parameter development, and integrated amsight’s software to maintain quality and consistency across serial production.
The platform enables continuous acquisition and analysis of process and part data across the additive manufacturing chain, which allows deviations from defined target values to be identified before quality defects occur.
“As the development and manufacturing partner of our customer, our focus was on creating a padding system that can be produced reproducibly and reliably meets the required quality characteristics,” stated Dr. Jörg Gerken, Technical Managing Director at rpm.
“The combination of additive manufacturing and data-driven quality assurance plays a central role in this.”
Statistical process control formed part of the data evaluation framework, supporting documentation, traceability, and process optimization — requirements the project team identified as essential for safety-critical manufacturing. Fraunhofer IPA provided scientific support for the quality assurance implementation.
