Department of Defense Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing—building products layer-by-layer in a process often referred to as three-dimensional (3D) printing—has the potential to improve aspects of DOD's mission and operations. DOD and other organizations, such as America Makes, are determining how to address challenges to adopt this technology throughout the department.
Senate Report 113-44 directed DOD to submit a briefing or report on additive manufacturing to the Senate Armed Services Committee that describes three elements. Senate Report 113-176 included a provision that GAO review DOD's use of additive manufacturing. This report addresses the extent to which (1) DOD's briefing to the Committee addresses the directed elements; (2) DOD has taken steps to implement additive manufacturing to improve performance, improve combat capability, and achieve cost savings; and (3) DOD uses mechanisms to coordinate and systematically track additive manufacturing efforts across the department. GAO reviewed and analyzed relevant DOD documents and interviewed DOD and academia officials.
DOD uses various mechanisms to coordinate on additive manufacturing efforts, but it does not systematically track components' efforts department-wide. DOD components share information regarding additive manufacturing via mechanisms such as working groups and conferences that, according to DOD officials, provide opportunities to discuss challenges experienced in implementing additive manufacturing—for example, qualifying materials and certifying parts. However, DOD does not systematically track additive manufacturing efforts, to include (1) all activities performed and resources expended by DOD; and (2) results of these activities, including actual and potential performance and combat capability improvements, cost savings, and lessons learned. DOD has not designated a lead or focal point at a senior level to systematically track and disseminate the results of these efforts, including activities and lessons learned, department-wide. Without designating a lead to track information on additive manufacturing efforts, which is consistent with federal internal control standards, DOD officials may not obtain the information they need to leverage ongoing efforts.
GAO determined that the Department of Defense's (DOD) May 2014 additive manufacturing briefing for the Senate Armed Services Committee addressed the three directed elements—namely, potential benefits and constraints; potential contributions to DOD mission; and transition of the technologies of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (“America Makes,” a public-private partnership established to accelerate additive manufacturing) for DOD use.
DOD has taken steps to implement additive manufacturing to improve performance and combat capability, and to achieve cost savings. GAO obtained information on multiple efforts being conducted across DOD components. DOD uses additive manufacturing for design and prototyping and for some production, such as parts for medical applications; and it is conducting research to determine how to use the technology for new applications. For example, according to a senior Air Force official, the Air Force is researching potential performance improvements that may be achieved by embedding devices such as antennas within helmets through additive manufacturing that could enable improved communications; and the Army used additive manufacturing to prototype aspects of a Joint Service Aircrew Mask to test a design change, and reported thousands of dollars thereby saved in design development.
GAO recommended that DOD designate an Office of the Secretary of Defense lead to be responsible for developing and implementing an approach for systematically tracking department-wide activities and resources, and results of these activities; and for disseminating these results to facilitate adoption of the technology across the department. DOD concurred with the recommendation.
DoD Abbreviations
3D Three-dimensional
DOD Department of Defense
GO Additive Government Organization for Additive Manufacturing
OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense
RDECOM Research, Development and Engineering Command
Multiple DOD components—at the OSD, military department (Army, Navy, and Air Force), Defense Logistics Agency, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency levels—are involved in additive manufacturing efforts. At the OSD-level, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering develops policy and provides guidance for all DOD activities on the strategic direction for defense research, development, and engineering priorities and coordinates with the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy to leverage independent research and development activities, such as additive manufacturing research activities. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Defense Sciences Office and the military departments—through the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM); the Office of Naval Research; and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory—have laboratories to conduct additive manufacturing research activities. According to Navy officials, the military depots use additive manufacturing for a variety of applications using various material types. These efforts largely include polymer, metal, and ceramic-based additive manufacturing processes for rapid prototyping, tooling, repair, and development of non-critical parts. The DOD components lead and conduct activities related to several types of technology research and development and advancements. Additive manufacturing is one of these activities, and the components are involved to the extent that some of the broader activities include additive manufacturing including:
The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, reporting to the Secretary of Defense, is responsible for all matters relating to departmental acquisition systems, as well as research and development, advanced technology, and developmental test and evaluation, among other things.
The OSD Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, reporting to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, is responsible for providing science and engineering integrity leadership throughout DOD and facilitating the sharing of best practices to promote the integrity of DOD scientific and engineering activities. According to DOD senior officials, the Materials and Manufacturing Processes community of interest is one of 17 department-wide coordination groups organized by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to provide broad oversight of the DOD components’ efforts in the Science and Technology areas for which the department has responsibilities. The senior officials added that this community of interest does not track all aspects of additive manufacturing and that the information that is tracked and communicated to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering is rolled up to a high level.
The OSD Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Maintenance Policy and Programs provides the functional expertise for centralized maintenance policy and management oversight for all weapon systems and military equipment maintenance programs and related resources within DOD.
The OSD Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, reporting to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, develops DOD policy and provides guidance, oversight, and technical assistance on assessing or investing in defense industrial capabilities, and has oversight responsibility for the Manufacturing Technology program, among other programs, which develops technologies and processes that ensure the affordable and timely production and sustainment of defense systems, including additive manufacturing. In addition, OSD manages the Defense-wide Manufacturing Science and Technology program, which seeks to address cross-cutting initiatives that are beyond the scope of any one military service or defense agency. The Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Defense Logistics Agency each have their own manufacturing technology programs, which select and execute activities, such as additive manufacturing research activities.
The Army, the Navy, and the Air Force have research and development laboratories—that is, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command; Office of Naval Research; and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory—for projects on the use of new materials, processes, and applications for additive manufacturing.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Sciences Office identifies and pursues high-risk, high-payoff fundamental research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines, and transforms these initiatives into radically new, game-changing technologies for U.S. national security. According to a senior Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencyofficial, the agency has initiated the Open Manufacturing program, which allows officials to capture and understand the additive concepts, so that they can rapidly predict with high confidence how the finished part will perform. The program has two facilities—one at Pennsylvania State University and the other at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory—establishing permanent reference repositories and serving as testing centers to demonstrate applications of the technology being developed and as a catalyst to accelerate adoption of the technology.
The Defense Logistics Agency procures parts for the military services and is developing a framework to determine how to use additive manufacturing, according to Defense Logistics Agency officials.
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 3D Medical Applications Center is a military treatment facility that provides, among other things, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing for producing medical models and custom implants through additive manufacturing. The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center falls within the National Capital Region Medical Directorate and is controlled by the Defense Health Agency, which in turn reports to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
DOD has taken steps to implement additive manufacturing to improve performance and combat capability, as well as achieve associated cost savings. GAO obtained information on multiple efforts being conducted across DOD components. For example, the Army used additive manufacturing, instead of conventional manufacturing, to prototype aspects of a Joint Service Aircrew Mask to test a design change, and it reported thousands of dollars saved in design development and potential combat capability improvements. According to a senior Navy official, to improve performance, the Navy additively manufactured circuit card clips for servers on submarines, as needed, because the original equipment manufacturer no longer produced these items. This official also stated that the Navy is researching ways to produce a flight critical part by 2017.
According to a senior Air Force official, the Air Force is researching potential performance improvements that may be achieved by embedding devices such as antennas within helmets through additive manufacturing that could enable improved communications. According to Defense Logistics Agency officials, they have taken steps to implement the technology by additively manufacturing the casting cores for blades and vanes used on gas turbine engines. According to a senior Walter Reed National Military Medical Center official, the Center has used additive manufacturing to produce cranial implants for patients.
DOD uses additive manufacturing for design and prototyping and for some production—for example, parts for medical applications—and it is conducting research to determine how to use the technology for new applications, such as printing electronic components for circuitry and antennas. DOD is also considering ways in which it can use additive manufacturing in supply chain management, including for repair of equipment and production of parts in the field so as to reduce the need to store parts; for production of discontinued or temporary parts as needed for use until a permanent part can be obtained; and for quickly building parts to meet mission requirements. According to DOD officials, such usage will enable personnel in the field to repair equipment, reduce equipment down-time, and execute their missions more quickly.
Some examples that DOD officials provided include the following:
The U.S. Army RDECOM Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, according to Army officials, plans to achieve performance improvements by developing an additively manufactured material solution for high demand items such as nuts and bolts, providing the engineering analysis and qualification data required to make these parts by means of additive manufacturing capability at the point of need in theater. These officials stated that this solution could potentially reduce the logistics burden on a unit and improve its mission readiness, thus enabling enhanced performance. The U.S. Army RDECOM Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, in conjunction with the Defense Logistics Agency, evaluated high-demand parts in the Afghanistan Theater of Operations and determined that nuts and bolts were high demand parts that were often unavailable due to the logistical challenges of shipping parts. According to Army officials, additive manufacturing offers customers the opportunity to enhance value when the lead time needed to manufacture and acquire a part can be reduced. According to these officials, in military logistics operations in theater, the manufacture of parts to reduce the lead time to acquire a part is of paramount importance. As of August 2015 the Center had additively manufactured several nuts and bolts to demonstrate that they can be used in equipment and it plans to fabricate more of these components for functional testing and qualification. The officials also stated that this testing will verify that the additively manufactured components can withstand the rigors of their intended applications.
The U.S. Army RDECOM Edgewood Chemical Biological Center prototyped aspects or parts of a Joint Service Aircrew Mask via additive manufacturing to test a design change, which officials stated has resulted in thousands of dollars saved and potential combat capability improvements. A new mask ensemble was built using these parts and was worn by pilots to evaluate comfort and range of vision. Once confirmed, the parts were produced using conventional manufacturing. Since this example was one in a prototyping phase, only low quantities were needed for developmental testing, and additive manufacturing combined with vacuum silicone/urethane casting allowed the Army to obtain a quantity of parts that was near production level. According to Army officials, if conventional production level tools (also called injection molds) had been developed and used in this prototyping phase, costs might have ranged from $30,000-$50,000, with a 3- to 6-month turnaround. These officials stated that additive manufacturing and urethane casting comprised a fraction of the cost—approximately $7,000–$10,000—with a 2- to 3-week turnaround. Had the Army alternatively developed a production tool at this proof-of-concept phase, time and financial investment might have been wasted if the concept had to be changed or started over from the beginning of the design phase, according to the officials.
The U.S. Army RDECOM Edgewood Chemical Biological Center achieved combat capability improvements by designing holders through additive manufacturing, to carry pieces of sensor equipment in the field, according to Army officials. The Center coordinated with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to develop the holder to carry a heavy hand-held improvised explosive device detection sensor. According to Army officials, the lab wanted a holder that would cradle the handle so as to distribute more weight to the soldier’s vest and back rather than confining it to the soldier’s forearm. Officials at the Center stated that they had additively manufactured many prototypes that were tested by soldiers at various locations around the country within 1 to 2 weeks. According to Army officials, after achieving positive testing results the Center used additive manufacturing to produce the molds that otherwise would have added weeks or months to the process via conventional manufacturing. The final products—10,000 plastic holders—were then produced at the Center through conventional manufacturing.
The Army Rapid Equipping Force achieved combat capability improvements by using additive manufacturing, as part of its expeditionary lab capability, to design valve stem covers for a military vehicle, according to Army officials. An Army unit had experienced frequent failures due to tire pressure issues on its Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles caused by exposed valve stems; for example, during missions, the tires would deflate when the valve stem was damaged by rocks or fixed objects. The additive manufacturing interim solution was developed in just over 2 weeks, because the additive manufacturing process allowed them to prototype a solution more quickly, according to Army Rapid Equipping Force officials. As shown in figure 5, the Army additively manufactured prototypes for versions 1 through 4 of the covers before a final part was produced in version 5 through conventional manufacturing processes.
The Army Rapid Equipping Force also achieved combat capability improvements, through its expeditionary lab, by producing prototypes of mounting brackets using additive manufacturing, according to Army officials. Army soldiers using mine detection equipment required illumination around the sensor sweep area during low visibility conditions in order to avoid impact with unseen objects resulting in damage to the sensor. Using additive manufacturing, a mounting bracket was prototyped for attaching flashlights to mine detectors in several versions. According to Army officials, due to requests exceeding the expeditionary lab’s production capability, the Army coordinated with a U.S. manufacturer to additively manufacture 100 mounting brackets at one-fourth the normal cost.
Tobyhanna Army Depot achieved performance improvement by using additive manufacturing to produce dust caps for radios, according to Army officials. These officials stated that a shortage of these caps had been delaying the delivery of radios to customers. Getting the part from a vendor would have taken several weeks, but the depot additively manufactured 600 dust caps in 16 hours. According to the depot officials, the dollar savings achieved were of less importance than the fact that they were able to meet their schedule.
The Navy is increasingly focused on leveraging additive manufacturing for the production of replacement parts to improve performance, according to Navy officials. When the original equipment manufacturer was no longer producing these parts, the Navy used additive manufacturing to create a supply of replacement parts to keep the fleet ready. This was the case for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center-Keyport, which used additive manufacturing to replace a legacy circuit card clip for servers installed on submarines, as needed/
The Navy installed a 3D printer aboard the USS Essex to demonstrate the ability to additively develop and produce shipboard items such as oil reservoir caps, drain covers, training aids, and tools to achieve performance improvements, according to a senior Navy official. According to Navy officials, additive manufacturing is an emerging technology and shipboard humidity, vibration, and motion may create variances in the prints. Navy officials also stated that while there is not a structured plan to install printers on all ships, it is a desired result and vision to have the capability on the fleet. These officials stated that the Navy plans to install 3D printers on two additional ships.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, according to a senior Air Force official, is researching potential performance improvements that may be achieved by (1) additive manufacturing of antennas and electronic components; and (2) embedding devices (such as antennas) within helmets and other structures through additive manufacturing, thereby potentially enabling improved communication. The laboratory has a six-axis printing system that has demonstrated the printing of antennas on helmets and other curved surfaces, according to the official. The official also stated that the laboratory conducts research and development in materials and manufacturing in order to advance additive manufacturing technology such that it can be used affordably and confidently for Air Force and DOD systems. Additionally, according to Air Force officials, the Air Force sustainment organizations use additive manufacturing for tooling and prototyping.
According to the December 2014 DOD Manufacturing Technology document the Defense Logistics Agency projected cost savings of 33-50 percent for additively manufacturing casting core tooling. The Defense Logistics Agency—working with industry, including Honeywell, and leveraging the work of military research labs—helped refine a process to additively manufacture the casting cores for engine airfoils (blades and vanes) used on gas turbine engines, according to Defense Logistics Agency officials. According to these officials, printing these casting cores will help reduce the cost and production lead times of engine airfoils, especially when tooling has been lost or scrapped or when there are low quantity orders for legacy weapon systems.
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center achieved performance improvements by additively manufacturing items that include customized cranial plate implants and medical tooling and surgical guides, according a senior official within the Center. According to the official, additive manufacturing offers a more flexible and applicable solution to aid surgeons and provide benefits to patients. Since 2003, according to the official, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has additively manufactured more than 7,000 medical models, more than 300 cranial plates, and more than 50 custom prosthetic and rehabilitation devices and attachments, as well as simulation and training models. The official stated that using additive manufacturing enables each part to be made specifically for the individual patient’s anatomy, which results in a better fit and an implant that is more structurally sound for a longer period of time, which, in turn, leads to better medical outcomes with fewer side effects. Furthermore, the official stated that additive manufacturing has been used for producing patient-specific parts, such as cranial implants, in 1 to 5 days, and these parts are being used in patients.
DOD uses various mechanisms to coordinate on additive manufacturing efforts, but it does not systematically track components’ efforts department-wide. DOD components share information regarding additive manufacturing through mechanisms such as working groups and conferences that, according to DOD officials, provide opportunities to discuss challenges experienced in implementing additive manufacturing—for example, qualifying materials and certifying parts. However, DOD does not systematically track additive manufacturing efforts, to include (1) all projects, henceforth referred to as activities, performed and resources expended by DOD; and (2) results of their activities, including actual and potential performance and combat capability improvements, cost savings, and lessons learned. DOD has not designated a lead or focal point at the OSD level to systematically track and disseminate the results of these efforts, including activities and lessons learned, department-wide. Without designating a lead to track information on additive manufacturing efforts, which is consistent with federal internal control standards, DOD officials may not obtain the information they need to leverage ongoing efforts.
(Link: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-56)