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The North Star Concept for any business represents the unwavering definition of its purpose, its products, and its customers. It clearly outlines the goals for that business – the North Star leading all involved on the path towards success. For the U.S. Navy and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the North Star Concept for additive manufacturing (AM) technologies is to design, print, approve, and install critical, obsolete, or Level One components – establishing a process and exercising component development on vessels even after undocking.
To jumpstart this effort, a NAVSEA team led by Engineering Duty Officers Lieutenant Commander David P. Johnsen and Lieutenant Commander Jake Lunday reached out to workers and Sailors across the globe and developed the Navy Additive Manufacturing Part Identification Exercise (NAMPIE) to identify what parts could be printed and installed shipboard or for use by waterfront workers. Efforts reached San Diego Naval Base in Ca.; Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) in Norfolk, VA; Naval Station Rota in Spain; and Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, FL. Now, it has made it to the four public shipyards – with Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) leading the charge.
“This whole initiative started with a group of people who wanted to find ways to 3-D print parts onboard a ship – greatly reducing the amount of time it takes to make repairs while underway,” said NAVSEA04TI AM Program Lead Dalia McGlone. “While touring these other locations, the NAMPIE team started with identifying and producing smaller parts such as hooks and plugs with lower entry requirements, such as form and fit. And they had a lot of success with what they were doing, so we saw the value of the exercise for the shipyards.”
Together, McGlone and NNSY Innovation Program AM Lead Jessica Roberts went to the NAMPIE at MARMC to see the initiative in action firsthand. It was clear to them this was something that could see a lot of success at the public shipyards.
“We’re looking to identify parts that support our capabilities of the Center of Excellence and identify future capability requirements - anything to benefit the Navy and the workforce of America’s Shipyard that work hard to maintain the fleet,” said Roberts. “In addition, with the NAMPIE and the efforts of the AM Program in connecting with those within the shipyard, we’re able to develop the technical data packages (TDP) for the parts to be routed, reviewed, and tested to establish it as a lasting component for the system.”
As of Oct. 2020, NAVSEA has a total of 182 approved 3-D printable parts in the JTDI database and more than 600 parts undergoing NAVSEA engineering review. With the NAMPIE, they hope to expand these numbers significantly, continuing to build the database of parts accessible to anyone across the enterprise.
NNSY held its NAMPIE in late Oct., providing shops and code representatives an opportunity to share their ideas with the NAMPIE team. Though in previous NAMPIE events there was a large group of team members involved spanning multiple commands, McGlone and Roberts were the leads running the event alongside Lieutenant Commander Lunday, who participated virtually due to the safety procedures in place with the ongoing pandemic.
One individual who met with the team was Non-Nuclear Surface Ships Propulsion Piping Division (Code 268) Mechanical Engineer Michael Nourse.
“During the NAMPIE, I was able to provide recent scenarios where we had to manufacture or procure a part in a short amount of time,” said Nourse. “I sent the team the part descriptions and drawings that we discussed so that they could have examples of what we worked on. I explained that for one part we had to machine bar stock in order to make a fitting to be installed on the ship. For another fitting, we had to order a new flange that came in after we needed it. With the AM Program, it could allow us to fabricate these parts on these short notice scenarios so we have what we need when we need it.”
Nourse continued, “This program could allow rapid development of ready-to-use parts. One of my main questions I asked the team was what materials could be used with these printers – depending on what’s available could greatly expand the capabilities of the shipyard and what could be developed.”
At this time, there are polymer printers throughout the shipyard available for use. In addition, there are four metal printers en route to the shipyard that could be used to develop prints from stainless steel, tool steel, Inconel, aluminum, and more.
“I’m looking forward to the success of this program as it would greatly benefit our mission at the shipyard and the Navy,” said Nourse. “There is a high level of excitement for this program and I hope to help out however I can.”
With the NAMPIE completed, Roberts and McGlone are already looking towards the future for not only NNSY but the enterprise as a whole.
“This is a shared initiative and we want to expand our reach as far as we can and get as many involved as possible,” said McGlone. “The goal is we can take parts from concept to creation, those that are obsolete, those with complex geometries and 3-D print them to speed up the process for getting parts installed or replaced. What’s more, we can even reverse engineer existing parts or develop parts that don’t exist yet but could help the mission.”
The desire is to have NAMPIE events at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediately Maintenance Facility (PSNS&IMF), Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY&IMF), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY), and the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center in Yokosuka (SRF-Yokosuka). In addition, NNSY and NAVSEA will continue to work with others to develop those ideas brought to the table.
“We want to encourage folks to come to us and share their ideas at any time; even if we don’t currently have the technology in place to make it happen right away, we want to know what the need is and look for ways on how we can help,” said Roberts. “Without the input from the workforce, we won’t truly know what the needs are. We want to build that connection and make innovation happen.”
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.01.2020 08:24 |
| Story ID: | 383985 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 136 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Following the North Star Concept: Norfolk Naval Shipyard Hosts First Navy Additive Manufacturing Part Identification Exercise for the Public Shipyards, by Kristi R Britt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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