Invigorating the Additive manufacturing (AM) Supply Base and Shipyards

Project Number: Q2924

Project Title: Modern Shipbuilding Manufacturing to Support Virginia & Columbia Class Submarines Additive Manufacturing Supply Chain and Shipyard Readiness

Period of Performance: SEP21 – SEP25

General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) and its vendor base must be prepared to meet the increased construction demands of two VIRGINIA Class submarines (VCS) and one COLUMBIA Class submarine (CLB) per year.
The objective of this project is to invigorate the additive manufacturing vendor base to prepare for increased shipbuilding production and sustainment. This includes advancing the technology readiness level (TRL) of additive manufacturing (AM) and establishing a framework for GDEB and Connecticut Center for Advanced Technologies vendors to accept AM as a potential manufacturing technique for tools / components, which would then benefit the rest of the AM community. This project is organized into three main tasks that will be executed in two phases. The first task will focus on creating processes for designing future components with AM as an option and creating databases that will capture information on materials, processes, machines, and vendor capabilities for future AM design projects. The second task will identify the business cases where use of advanced manufacturing technologies and processes makes business sense, specifically for non-shipboard components, and will result in the creation and testing of prototype tooling and fixtures. Finally, the third task will focus on advancing the TRL and the manufacturing readiness level (MRL) from 4 to 5 for applying directed energy deposition (DED) AM for a shipboard component part build or repair.

This project will improve the readiness of the submarine manufacturing supply base through advancing AM technologies and capabilities, as well as developing a database of relevant suppliers. The direct benefits of this project, as they apply to cost savings are difficult to quantify. However, all aspects of the potential benefits of this project will continue to be investigated and refined throughout the project’s life-cycle. Preliminary anecdotal benefits of the project include a functional AM vendor database, AM design tenets, and an improved TRL — all expected to contribute to decreased acquisition costs and more rapid repairs.

The implementation plan will be contingent on successful creation of a functioning vendor database, successful design and manufacturing path for AM tooling/fixtures, and successful execution of DED build or repair for a shipboard component. It is expected that a functioning AM vendor database, AM design tenets, and an improved TRL will result in lower acquisition costs and more rapid repairs.

*Prepared under ONR Contract N00014-24-D-7001 as part of the Navy ManTech Program.

*DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. DCN# 2024-10-17-189; Approval Date: 10/24/2024