3d Printed Valve Assembly For U.S. Navy Submarines

Hunt Valve, a Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) company, was awarded a contract by the Maritime Sustainment Technology and Innovation Consortium (MSTIC) to produce a 3D printed valve assembly for installation on U.S. Navy submarines. Using additive manufacturing (AM) to create the 70 lb valve assembly – the first 3D printed assembly to be installed on a U.S. submarine – will provide the Navy with a product meeting or exceeding the quality produced through traditional sand-casting in about two-thirds less time.

“The use of additive manufacturing assembly with copper-nickel for large valve production is a real step forward for our industry,” says Andrew Pfister, vice president, Aftermarket and Product Development at Fairbanks Morse Defense.

Until recently, AM for submarine components has only been possible for small parts and pieces, and applications for challenging alloys such as copper-nickel have been rare. Sand-casted copper-nickel is highly porous and often results in a high fall-out rate which challenges delivery time. In contrast, valve bodies created through 3D printing have dramatically higher first-time yields, accelerating production and delivery timeframes since the manufacturer doesn’t need to build in additional production time to account for the fall-out rate.

Hunt Valve’s contract with MSTIC will allow the 3D valve to be installed on any U.S. submarine class. The expanded use of AM is expected to speed the production of components for the Navy fleet by up to 75%, making the process an attractive option for increasing production efficiency and gaining greater control over the defense industrial base supply chain, as foundries would be able to focus on larger components.

“Innovative technologies such as AM are essential for building the submarine industrial base to overcome supply chain challenges,” Pfister says. “By scaling AM, we can reduce shipping from other parts of the world and increase the speed of production at home – which positively impacts the Navy’s overall strategic goal to deliver a 300+ fleet.”

The valve assemblies are being developed by Hunt Valve in collaboration with Lincoln Electric. The valve body will be 3D-printed by Lincoln Electric by stacking layers of copper-nickel together to create the final product. Once printed, the valve body is delivered to Hunt Valve to manufacture the remaining components using the standard manufacturing method and then assemble all the parts to create the full valve assembly.

Fairbanks Morse Defense https://www.fairbanksmorsedefense.com