French Navy validates 3D printing for metal parts

The validation by the French Navy marks the third time that Meltio’s metal 3D printing technology has been approved for the defence sector. Previously, the US Navy installed one of its solutions on board a military vessel, while the Spanish Army uses the company’s 3D printing solutions to manufacture and repair metal parts.

Validation of the technology by the French Navy occurred during military manoeuvres in May 2024, following several months of testing. The French Navy is now considering including the technology in upcoming real-life manoeuvres and, in future, may incorporate it on board ships in its fleet. The Spanish multinational based in Linares (Jaén) has passed various technological tests on its hardware, metallic materials and software, meeting the high demands of different armies around the world with its disruptive 3D printing technology. In addition to these milestones, Sicnova, Meltio’s distributor in Spain, signed a contract with the Spanish Ministry of Defence at the end of 2023 to introduce AM over the next four years. Defence forces in other countries are also in the process of validating Meltio’s technology.

Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle

The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has been experimentally using a metal 3D printing solution provided by Meltio. In May 2024, as part of the “Ursa Minor” exercise – a high-intensity operational maintenance naval exercise organized by the Fleet Support Service (FSS) – a special breakdown repair experiment was carried out in the workshops of the Navy’s logistics department in Toulon. Meltio’s technological solution is installed on shore at the Toulon arsenal and is receiving requests for the manufacture and repair of metal parts from the aircraft carrier.

The company’s 3D printer works with various types of materials, including stainless steel, titanium, Inconel, mild steel and tool steel.

The 3D printing technology experimentation exercise enables the supply and repair of fully dense parts for various industrial applications.

These parts are manufactured at a low production cost per cubic cm. In addition, the speed of execution and efficiency are such that production is more competitive than with traditional manufacturing methods, stresses the French Navy.

Another aspect of the technological challenge faced by the French engineering team was that the part to be manufactured had to be made of metal, a first for the department, which had never used this manufacturing process before. Meltio’s technology works by Direct Energy Deposition (DED), i.e. the stacking of welding wires on top of each other, in the form of wire introduced into a molten bath generated by a laser. It is based on digital modelling of the replacement, which is an essential prerequisite for production.

Jean-Marc Quenez, director of Innovation and Additive Manufacturing at the Service de Soutien de la Flotte (SSF) of the French Ministry of Defence stated: “We are at the point of completing technological tests of the Meltio metal 3D printer for the French Navy. Its state of use is experimental. The French Navy is using this machine…at our naval base, the Arsenal, located in the city of Toulon. After months of preliminary tests at our technology centre in Toulouse, south of France, to test Meltio’s wire-laser DED technology (direct material deposition with laser melting technique as welding), the transfer of the printer to Toulon was approved. The main objective of this transfer is to respond to the Navy ships that are sailing with their repair and manufacturing needs in different metallic materials, mainly stainless steels and Inconel, for which Meltio’s additive manufacturing system is very efficient in the result of the parts obtained”.

Quenez continued: “Last May, we conducted the Ursa Minor 2024 offshore exercise, in which the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier requested its internal naval engineering centre to repair metal parts. It was at that moment that we turned to Meltio’s metal 3D printing technology. Let’s say that this machine performs a function, for the moment experimental from land and in tests, of land-sea tele-assistance. The exercise was a success. We plan to carry out more exercises of this type over the coming months, and in the future, the French Army is considering incorporating this type of metal 3D printer on board.” Since its foundation in 2019, Meltio has achieved relevant projects in Defence, consolidating and strengthening its technology and positioning itself as a strategic business partner for the manufacture and repair of metal parts in different industrial sectors. Its technology is based on the patent of a 3D printing head capable of melting various metallic materials using lasers and the welding wire technique.

Aboard the USS Bataan

Meltio collaborated with its US distributor, Phillips Corporation, to install a metal 3D printing solution for onboard manufacturing of spare parts and repairs onboard a US Navy ship for the first time. The Phillips Additive Hybrid powered by Haas took Meltio’s laser metal deposition technology and integrated it with the Haas CNC vertical machining centre control milling machine aboard the USS Bataan. The equipment, installed as part of a joint effort between the Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic and the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Technology Office, includes the Phillips Additive Hybrid system, which integrates a Meltio wire laser metal deposition head on a Haas TM-1 computer numerical control milling machine. The ability to obtain spare parts at sea is a challenge, especially considering that space is at a premium and many decades-old parts are nearly obsolete.

The USS Bataan is the first to deploy a hybrid manufacturing system that provides sailors with industrial-grade manufacturing capabilities. Meltio’s solution enabled a replacement 3D metal plate for a ballast air compressor (DBAC) to be manufactured in just five days, rather than potentially taking weeks to supply through conventional Navy supply channels.

Meltio’s success aboard the USS Bataan enabled the Spanish brand to achieve technological confidence and accreditation in the United States. Thus, the US Department of Defence (DoD) has awarded Meltio’s technology with XtechInternational, which means recognition as a “strategic technology partner” in the current and future development plans of that country in the military and security field. This is the first time that a Spanish company has received this award in the field of additive manufacturing.

Spanish Ministry of Defence

Soluciones Sicnova, a Spanish distributor of Meltio’s solutions, has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Defence to implement in four years “joint actions for the development and implementation of a digitalization strategy to simplify the manufacture of parts and spare parts in their supply chains”.

Defence aims to improve the supply and logistics chains of the Armed Forces, increase the operability of fleets and resources in operations, and avoid problems related to the obsolescence of parts and pieces. It also aims to increase the useful life of assets through a strategy of design and additive manufacturing that allows the development and manufacture of parts, spare parts and tooling.