Navy To Use 3-D Printers for Aircraft Parts

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) unveiled a plan to use 3-D printers to produce replacement parts for aircraft. Speaking during an April 15 presentation at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space exposition in Oxon Hill, Md., Liz McMichael, head of the 3-D printing team at NAVAIR, said the service already is using the devices to manufacture plastic parts. Before the process becomes commonplace, however, she said that technical issues must be resolved before the process can be used to make metal parts. Also, McMichael said, any such parts must pass the same certification process to which all parts are subjected. In the future, shipboard 3-D printers could allow vessels to deploy with smaller, more efficient storages spaces – unencumbered by shelves of parts that may never break. Ultimately, she said, 3-D printers could “fundamentally change the workforce.”