Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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Marines 3D-Print Part to Repair Their F-35s
23 Aug 2018
https://hackaday.com/2018/08/23/marines-3d-print-part-to-repair-multi-million-dollar-fighter/
The good news: all you need to complete the repair you’re working on is one small part. The bad news: it’s only available in a larger, expensive assembly. The worst news: shipping time is forever. We’ve all been there, and it’s a hard pill to swallow for the DIYer. Seems like a good use case for 3D-printing.
Now imagine you’re a US Marine, and instead of fixing a dishwasher or TV remote, you’ve got a $123 million F-35 fighter in the shop. The part you need is a small plastic bumper for the landing gear door, but it’s only available as part of the whole door assembly, which costs $70,000 taxpayer dollars. And lead time to get it shipped from the States is measured in weeks. Can you even entertain the notion of 3D-printing a replacement? It turns out you can, and it looks like there will be more additive manufacturing to come in Corps repair depots around the world.
Details of the printed part are not forthcoming for obvious reasons, but the part was modeled in Blender and printed in PETG on what appears to be a consumer-grade printer. The part was installed after a quick approval for airworthiness, and the grounded fighter was back in service within days. It’s encouraging that this is not a one-off; other parts have been approved for flight use by the Marines, and a whole catalog of printable parts for ground vehicles is available too. This is the reality that the 3D printing fiction of Lost in Space builds upon.
A comment found below that article. This sort of crap shouldn't be necessary.
barry99705 says:
August 23, 2018 at 4:43 am
Lots of aircraft parts are that way. The springs that push the crew entry handles out on F-15Es would wear out and break. Couldn’t just buy the spring, you had to buy the whole handle assembly. Then either take the new one apart to get the spring, or replace the whole assembly, which is riveted in place. Someone came up with a new spring that consisted of a piece of bent spring steel riveted into the handle channel.
23 Aug 2018
https://hackaday.com/2018/08/23/marines-3d-print-part-to-repair-multi-million-dollar-fighter/
The good news: all you need to complete the repair you’re working on is one small part. The bad news: it’s only available in a larger, expensive assembly. The worst news: shipping time is forever. We’ve all been there, and it’s a hard pill to swallow for the DIYer. Seems like a good use case for 3D-printing.
Now imagine you’re a US Marine, and instead of fixing a dishwasher or TV remote, you’ve got a $123 million F-35 fighter in the shop. The part you need is a small plastic bumper for the landing gear door, but it’s only available as part of the whole door assembly, which costs $70,000 taxpayer dollars. And lead time to get it shipped from the States is measured in weeks. Can you even entertain the notion of 3D-printing a replacement? It turns out you can, and it looks like there will be more additive manufacturing to come in Corps repair depots around the world.
Details of the printed part are not forthcoming for obvious reasons, but the part was modeled in Blender and printed in PETG on what appears to be a consumer-grade printer. The part was installed after a quick approval for airworthiness, and the grounded fighter was back in service within days. It’s encouraging that this is not a one-off; other parts have been approved for flight use by the Marines, and a whole catalog of printable parts for ground vehicles is available too. This is the reality that the 3D printing fiction of Lost in Space builds upon.
A comment found below that article. This sort of crap shouldn't be necessary.
barry99705 says:
August 23, 2018 at 4:43 am
Lots of aircraft parts are that way. The springs that push the crew entry handles out on F-15Es would wear out and break. Couldn’t just buy the spring, you had to buy the whole handle assembly. Then either take the new one apart to get the spring, or replace the whole assembly, which is riveted in place. Someone came up with a new spring that consisted of a piece of bent spring steel riveted into the handle channel.