Fastech becomes Meltio reference site for laser-wire 3D printing in the defense sector

In Danville, Virginia, Fastech and metal 3D printing specialist Meltio jointly demonstrated the role that additive metal manufacturing can play in military readiness. At the event “Ready For Action: Accelerating Readiness, Sustaining the Future,” representatives from the Department of Defense, industry and research discussed how spare parts and critical components can in future be manufactured and maintained closer to the point of need. As part of the event, Fastech was named an official Meltio reference site in the United States – with a focus on laser wire directed energy deposition (DED) for industrial and military applications.

As Alan Pearce, CEO at Fastech, emphasized during his talk, “Readiness and sustainment are more than industry goals. They’re national imperatives. Partnerships like this one show how regional collaboration can have a global impact.”

The agenda included contributions from representatives of the US Navy, the Department of Defense, Siemens Energy, ExxonMobil and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), which is positioning Danville as a hub for high technology as well as education and training.

The technical core of the collaboration is Meltio’s laser wire DED, in which stainless steel or bronze welding wire is melted under shielding gas using a focused laser and deposited layer by layer. In a live demonstration, a Meltio M600 system produced an artillery shell measuring 161 × 161 × 606 millimeters from SS-316LSi and marine bronze. The layer thickness was around 1 millimeter, the build took place under argon at about 15 liters per minute and lasted just under 23 hours.

A second demonstration used a robot cell with a blue laser system to build a jet engine exhaust component with a diameter of around 355 millimeters and a mass of just under 12 kilograms. Varying layer heights from about 0.6 millimeters illustrated how process parameters can be adapted to complex geometries and different wall thicknesses. The experts in attendance were able to follow the individual process steps via headset and ask questions about parameterization, repair strategies and material selection.

For Danville and the Southern Virginia region, the event marks another step toward establishing a cluster for additive manufacturing in the defense and energy sectors. As a reference site, Fastech aims to demonstrate how DED cells can be integrated into existing production lines to relieve pressure on supply chains, shorten repair times and build expertise in wire-based metal 3D printing.