The additive manufacturing (AM) industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, particularly within U.S. agencies like the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Energy (DoE). This growth is driven by the need to strengthen national security through the development of additive manufacturing, including improved material readiness, streamlined maintenance operations and supply chains, enhanced logistics resiliency, and increased process research. Despite this, the growth of metal AM has been hindered by concerns over inconsistent part quality and reliability.
Phase3D has worked closely with the US Air Force for multiple years to address the problems of inconsistent prints and limited real-time quality and reliability control for AM. Fringe Research, Phase3D’s flagship AM inspection product, addresses these issues with its unique in-process monitoring suite, providing objective layer height measurements and anomaly classification for powder-based AM. The application of this technology by Phase 3D has enabled the establishment of Fringe Research at the US Air Force Tinker Air Force Base in the Reverse Engineering and Critical Tooling (REACT) lab. Fringe Research seamlessly integrates with industrial-scale metal 3D printers located at any customer site, including the REACT lab. The installation of Phase3D’s system supports with reducing project lead times for research and development, increasing machine utilization, and most importantly, ensures build and part quality in real-time. Fringe Research and the Phase3D team have been working with the US Air Force to achieve “airworthiness” and open up the opportunity for more 3D-printed parts to be used by the DoD.
Fringe Research’s development with the US Air Force has played a crucial role in supporting various projects at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex Tinker Air Force Base (OC-ALC), focused on improving part qualification and certification. By incorporating Fringe Research at US Air Force depots into AM, Phase3D is working to create production guidelines for AM technicians, managers, and designers. This is done by providing valuable data to help staff members make more informed decisions, optimize the production processes, and soon improve maintenance scheduling. The collaboration between Phase3D and the US Air Force is set to continue to drive growth in the AM industry and defense sectors in the upcoming years. Phase3D will be releasing more exciting news and findings from this collaboration at RAPID + TCT 2024. To stay up to date, contact us at www.additivemanufacturing.com and follow Phase3D on LinkedIn.
