Development of Laser Expeditionary Metal Manufacturing System (LEMMS)

Expeditionary 3D printing is of interest to all branches of the Department of Defense (DoD). The Army developed the RFAB system, but it is limited to polymer printers. PM Technologies LLC (PM Techs) will team with UTEP's Aerospace Center (Aero Center) and AconityUS to leverage digital engineering tools to model, simulate, and design an expeditionary laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) system. An AconityMIDI LPBF system will be customized to operate inside an army shelter along with the Aconity-furnished nitrogen generator. An automated excavating and powder handling station will be designed to reduce human-powder contact. The powder station will work in a plug-and-play fashion with the AconityMIDI's modular build chamber. The Aero Center will create a multi-physics digital twin of the integrated system to meet MIL-STD 810 requirements. Specifically, the Aero Center will look at power requirements, heat loads, and the external environment to develop a robust set of design requirements for the system. The second major task is a material study on 316L fabricated in a nitrogen environment with an AconityMIDI system. PM Techs will fabricate 316L LPBF samples in an argon and nitrogen environment to compare material properties and microstructure. Operating data from the AconityMIDI system will be collected for use with the digital twin during fabrication of these material samples. The successful completion of the project will produce a digital twin of the Laser Expeditionary Metal Manufacturing System (LEMMS), requirements for building the system, and material characteristics of 316L fabricated in a nitrogen environment.