Current 2019-2020 Projects
The following projects are in progress for Academic Year 2020 (AY20):
- Effect of Powder Morphology on Component Properties (1st year, NSWC Corona Powder Project)
- AM Dosimeter Project (2nd year)
- AM Phantom Project (1st year)
- NSTAR (AM CubeSat, 1st year)
- Additive Manufacturing at Sea (AMAS, 2nd year)
- AM Education (2nd year of AM elective class)
- Alice Pack Redesign (1st year)
- Naval Academy Hydromechanics Laboratory
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Additive Manufacturing At Sea (AMAS) Platform
In this multi-year and multi-departmental project a highly customized and instrumented LulzBot TAZ6 FDM printer has been operating at sea on Yard Patrol craft from USNA.
Example calibration parts have been printed to verify operability of the printer in an at sea environment. The printer is easy to operate and collects data concurrent with the printing process.
Future work includes potential error detection and increased operability of the printer in an at sea environment.
AM Education
USNA offers a class entitled Drafting and Additive Manufacturing which is available to all engineering majors who have met basic material science pre-requisites.
In this class students learn how to print with every printer in the MakerSpace and complete projects involving 3D printing including a bridge building project built completely by 3D printing.
Examples of past projects have included gun sites for the Marine Infantry Automatic Rifle, a UAV, and even a 3D printed xylophone key!
This class is usually offered in Spring semester but has been offered in both semesters in the past.
Alice Pack Redesign
Problem:
The current ALICE pack is too heavy. The majority of the weight of the system comes from the structural support.
Objective:
Using structural optimization, redesign the support frame for the ALICE pack, potentially using additive manufacturing (AM), to shed significant weight from the system.