A manifold made with additive manufacturing was used in the construction of aircraft carrier Enterprise , shown here at keel-laying at Newport News Shipbuilding. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit installed the first valve manifold assembly created by additive manufacturing technology on a new construction aircraft carrier, HII confirmed on 4 March.
The valve manifold assembly is about 5 ft (1.5 m) long and weighs 1,000 lb (453.6 kg) and was installed in a pump room on Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80), HII said in a statement.
The specialised assembly allows distribution of a single source of fluid to multiple points on the ship, HII noted, adding NNS collaborated with DM3D Technology to manufacture the manifold body.
“NNS continues to integrate additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, into the shipbuilding process,” the company said. “The use of certified 3D-printed parts has the potential to accelerate construction and delivery of vessels to the US Navy (USN) by cutting lead times and improving manufacturing quality for critical components.”
In another effort to accelerate carrier construction, NNS recently began to build two carriers at the same time in the same dry dock.
For more information about the simultaneous carrier construction method, please seeHII to build two carriers in dry dock simultaneously for first time .
NNS will employ additive manufacturing rather than traditional casting methods on similar manifolds planned for Doris Miller (CVN 81), “reducing schedule risk and improving efficiency”, HII said.
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