At the U.S. shipyard Newport News Shipbuilding, 3D printing is making the production of special tools faster and more efficient. One example is a milling head for maintenance work on the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy that was printed within a few days.
Tooling engineer Chris Davis designed an update for this particular cutting tool. But the design alone was not enough – the tool also had to be manufactured. Typically, the conventional manufacturing method would have taken several weeks. However, the CVN 79 required a faster production route.
This is where Deputy Chief Engineer John Ralls’ team came in. Instead of opting for the conventional production route, Ralls and his team turned to 3D printing.
“It is alternate fabrication method that is able to rapidly produce tools of high precision, in order to support the end product,” Ralls said. “In this case, we were able to take the digital tool design from Chris Davis, and print the part in a matter of days.”
Another advantage of the new design is that it uses carbide inserts that can be rotated or replaced. In contrast, the older cutting tool, made of tool steel, had to be resharpened almost daily. The new cutting tool is expected to save thousands of man-hours over time.
“This tool example demonstrates the benefit of long-term strategic thinking,” Ralls said. “Newport News Shipbuilding has taken a leadership role in specific technologies, additive manufacturing being one of them. We have removed numerous roadblocks that have enabled us to support emergent parts like this spotface cutting tool.”
“What are the problems out there that we can help solve, like with this spotface cutting tool? This is just one example,” he said. “We want to continue to be thought leaders of this technology in the industry.”
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