Huntington Ingalls Expands 3D Printing for Navy Ships
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is expanding its additive manufacturing capabilities to support U.S. Navy shipbuilding. The company is incorporating advanced technologies like Nikon SLM Solutions to increase its capacity for producing 3D-printed components for naval vessels.
- The recent expansion includes a second Nikon SLM Solutions NXG 600E machine, a large-format metal printer that uses up to 12 lasers simultaneously to build components layer by layer from metal powder. This technology is being used to produce parts from materials like Nickel-Aluminum Bronze (NiAlBr), known for its corrosion resistance in marine environments. - Additive manufacturing has been shown to reduce production lead times for certain components by as much as 70%. For example, a critical valve for a Navy destroyer that traditionally took 29 weeks to procure can now be produced in 8 to 9 weeks. - A significant milestone was the installation of a 1.5-meter, 450-kilogram (approximately 5 feet, 992 pounds) 3D-printed metal valve manifold aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the most complex part of its size printed for a U.S. naval vessel. Another success involved printing a deck drain assembly from a copper-nickel alloy for a Virginia-class submarine. - The financial benefits of this technology are substantial; in one instance, the Southeast Regional Maintenance Center 3D-printed a polymer cooling fan rotor for a chilled water pump at a cost of $131.21, avoiding the over $316,000 expense of replacing the entire pump assembly. - This expansion is in line with the Department of Defense's broader strategy on additive manufacturing, outlined in DoD Instruction 5000.93, which aims to integrate this technology across the defense industrial base to enhance readiness and supply chain resilience. - By the end of 2024, the number of 3D-printed metal parts on U.S. Navy submarines quadrupled from two to eight, with plans to install 33 on the USS Michigan during its overhaul. - HII's Newport News Shipbuilding has also leveraged 3D printing to create specialized tools, such as an upgraded spot face cutting tool for work on the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), reducing a weeks-long conventional manufacturing process to a matter of days. - The Navy's additive manufacturing efforts extend to international cooperation, particularly through the AUKUS partnership, where the U.S., United Kingdom, and Australia have successfully installed a 3D-printed metal part on a ship, demonstrating the potential for interchangeable repair capabilities among allied fleets.
