Large-scale Additive Manufacturing R&D to Advance Modular Shelter Design and Deployment - Phase ll

Shelter system technologies provide vital support to U.S. military personnel during in-theatre operations and peacetime. Soldiers, logistics experts, and decision-makers across the chain of command need shelter systems that perform in austere environments while being cost-effective, resilient, durable, and easily maintained. Expeditionary shelter systems offer less permanent accommodations yet can enhance mission speed and safety when coupled with improved energy savings and structural enhancements that yield minimal weight. TheĀMASh Kit will be a set of 3D-printed components that can quickly erect an expeditionary shelter capable of filling the dynamic needs of soldiers. MASh Kits will provide soldiers with a re-deployable, rigid, scalable, highly insulated, mold/mildew/rot and termite resistant structure. ĀCompotech, in collaboration with its strategic partners, has developed key shelter system innovations that are practical and effective. Compotech works closely with Army subject matter experts (SMEs) who develop the requirements and specifications for panelized military shelters, and our engineering team has the know-how to meet all the requirements. Compotech and the Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) at the University of Maine (UMaine) are partnering on this SBIR to create a winning team that combines CompotechÆs years of experience designing military shelters with ASCCÆs latest bio-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology. UMaine's talented engineers and scientists have researched bio-based composite materials for over 20 years and recently applied this technology to large-scale AM. The UMaine team has successfully manufactured a vehicle-mounted military shelter for the US Army, a logistics vessel for the US Marines, and an energy-efficient bio-based home for the Department of Energy. UMaine was selected as CompotechÆs AM partner based on its extensive experience with bio-based materials along with their capability to design, manufacture, and test large additive structures. The goal is to advance AM materials and processes, along with innovative process-specific shelter designs, to facilitate 3D printing on-site using sustainable materials.Ā