Electronic Military & Defense magazine was developed for engineers, program managers, project managers, and those involved in the design and development of electronic and electro-optic systems for military, defense, and aerospace applications.
Issue link: https://electronicsmilitarydefense.epubxp.com/i/146848
Feature Weapon Manufacturing Goes On-Demand: Defense Distributed Additive manufacturing presents a unique solution to the financial problems associated with the import of weapons. It has been conclusively demonstrated that additive manufacturing can be used for manufacturing parts of guns and other weapons. A U.S. company called Defense Distributed has already procured licenses for manufacturing and selling gun parts made through 3D printing from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and has demonstrated the practical feasibility of these products. The company has printed crucial parts of guns, and its first prototype rifle fired six shots before disintegrating. The gun was made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, and the designs are available on the company's website. The open distribution of weapon designs could make weapons accessible to almost anyone, potentially leading to situations where arms control becomes extremely difficult. This presents very interesting scenarios for military organizations around the world. By simply downloading a computer aided design (CAD) file, soldiers could print weapons or weapons parts using a 3D printer located at or near the battle site. This could result in huge money, energy, and resource savings compared to traditional weapons transportation. The ability to print weapons on demand would also mean countries managing risk more effectively in terms of procurement of the latest weapons, especially in highly bureaucratic developing countries where weapon procurement decisions often take years. Printing PCBs Additive manufacturing has also been identified as a way of manufacturing printed electronic circuits. Optomec has already developed a 3D additive manufacturing solution that can be used for making 3D printed circuits. In the future, we can expect the military and the defense sector to have access to cutting-edge additive manufacturing technologies with the capacity to print out fully functional devices. Such devices could be manufactured in the field as required and be used on the spot. Such an innovation could prove to be a huge strategic advantage for defense forces in the future. In another example, a group of researchers at University of Warwick has developed a technology for the 3D printing of personal electronic circuits. Their biggest breakthrough was the development of a new material called carbomorph, a conductive plastic that can be used for printing personal circuit boards. The material is made from polycaprolactone (PCL), which is biodegradable. Carbomorph has a low melting point and is ideal for the fused deposition modeling process, one of the cheaper and more accessible technologies for 3D printing. This composite makes it possible to manufacture a functional piece of electronics equipment, which would be of great value to military and defense forces, especially naval and reconnaissance teams in remote locations. What About Metal? Efforts are still ongoing to develop a cost-effective solution to additive manufacturing of metals. Some of the main technologies that have been in use for the past few years are selective laser sintering (SLS), LaserCUSING, selective laser melting, laser cladding, and electron beam melting (EBM). There are several parameters used to judge additive technology, such as surface finish, tensile strength of the product manufactured, intricacy of design, variety of materials with which the technology can work, etc. However, surface finish and material variety are some of the more important concerns common to all metal-based additive technologies, and a number of research centers around the world are working to develop technologies that can be used for production of parts for use directly in machine systems. Parts built from additive manufacturing technologies have higher part strength and in short-run productions might be more profitable than conventional manufacturing techniques. GE, for example, intends to use nozzles made using additive manufacturing for its LEAP jet engines by 2016. Canada's National Research Council (NRC) has been working on the development of an additive manufacturing technology called laser consolidation, which holds great potential for manufacturing net functional parts for the aerospace and defense sector. The technology works by using a unique arrangement of lasers for the deposition and building process of the parts to be developed. The technology is well suited for the development of components for aircraft, defense machinery, and naval ships. Laser consolidation's main advantage over other metal printing technologies is its high-quality surface finish and its ability to manufacture parts of complex geometries and shapes. The technology can be used with a number of materials, including nickel, cobalt, titanium, aluminum-based alloys, and stainless steel. The surface finish of parts manufactured using laser consolidation is very high compared to conventional Electronic Military & Defense ■ www.vertmarkets.com/electronics 9