Spare parts are not always easy to come by, whether you're in the middle of the ocean or on a battlefield. Today The Conversation looks at technology being tested during the military’s RIMPAC exercises.
The technology is being used in the battle in Ukraine, and a Navy ship off Oʻahu is testing a 3D printer. It is working on a replacement part to fix its faulty water system — high-tech solutions to fix a supply chain problem.
We were out to see firsthand how this Australian technology is creating stainless steel parts — and how post-graduate Naval students from Monterey, California, are getting familiar with those advances.
Lt. Daniel Lucak with the Naval Postgraduate School said the process called XSPEE3D uses powdered metal and a cold spray to build spare parts from the ground up.
We also heard from Patrick Tucker with Fleetwerx, a company working with the school. He said the printers are hard at work servicing all the armed services. Some were large, the size of a shipping container. Others were tabletop-sized.
This interview aired on The Conversation on July 16, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
