SBIR-STTR Award

The overall goal of this STTR Phase I project is to develop a concept to mitigate the effects of motion/vibration for a shipboard material extrusion additive manufacturing (AM) system. NAVSEA has been installing advanced manufacturing equipment, including 3D printers, onboard ships in support of shipboard operations and to evaluate performance of the equipment in shipboard environments and in response to Fleet demand. However, the performance of the equipment and quality of fabricated parts is impacted by shipboard high-frequency vibrations which limit shipboard printing applications, especially higher criticality applications. Advanced Technology and Research Corporation (ATR) has teamed with Michigan Technological University (MTU) to develop a model-based Vibration Mitigation System (VMS) to support the Navy to overcome this challenge and bring the AM capability to ships.

Benefit:
This STTR Phase I effort is designed to develop a model-based Vibration Mitigation System (VMS) to mitigate the impact of shipboard high-frequency dynamic environments for additive manufacturing. The initially targeted naval ships include aircraft carrier (CVN), amphibious assault ship (LHA/LHD), and potentially Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships such as Large, Medium-Speed Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR), dry cargo/ammunition ship (T-AKE), and Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD). It is expected that the program will be expanded to include medium- and small-sized naval ships such as Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Freedom and Independence Classes and the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) in the follow-on phases. This enabling technology will support the Department of the Navy (DON) Additive Manufacturing (AM) Implementation Plan V2.0 (2017). It is expected that other services including the US Marine Corps, US Coast Guards, US Transportation Command will also require this enabling technology. Its obvious that this technology will certainly find a wide range of applications in commercial sectors for ship motion and vibrations mitigation for shipboard applications.

Keywords:
High-Frequency Vibrations, High-Frequency Vibrations, machine learning., 3D Printers, Additive Manufacturing (AM), Ship Motion, Tunable Mass Damper, Vibration Mitigation System (VMS)

The overall goal of this STTR Phase II project is to develop a process to mitigate the effects of high frequency vibrations for a shipboard material extrusion additive manufacturing (AM) system. NAVSEA has begun to install advanced AM equipment onboard ships to achieve two overarching naval AM Goals: Increase Readiness/Sustainment and Enhance Warfighter Capabilities. However, the performance of the equipment and quality of fabricated parts is impacted by shipboard motions and vibrations which limit printing applications, especially for highly critical applications. Advanced Technology and Research Corporation (ATR) has teamed with Michigan Technological University (MTU) to develop a model-based Vibration Mitigation System (VMS) to support the Navy to overcome this challenge and bring the AM capability to ships. The Phase II project will allow the Team to develop a full-size prototype and perform laboratory and shipboard testing to gradually mature the VMS technology to reach Technology Reediness Level (TRL) 6/7.

Benefit:
This STTR Phase II effort is designed to develop a model-based Vibration Mitigation System (VMS) to mitigate the impact of shipboard high-frequency dynamic environments for additive manufacturing. The initially targeted naval ships include aircraft carrier (CVN), amphibious assault ship (LHA/LHD), and potentially Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships such as Large, Medium-Speed Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR), dry cargo/ammunition ship (T-AKE), and Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD). It is expected that the program will be expanded to include medium- and small-sized naval ships such as Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Freedom and Independence Classes and the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) in the follow-on phases. This enabling technology will support the Department of the Navy (DON) Additive Manufacturing (AM) Implementation Plan V2.0 (2017). It is expected that other services including the US Marine Corps, US Coast Guards, US Transportation Command will also require this enabling technology. Its obvious that this technology will certainly find a wide range of applications in commercial sectors for ship motion and vibrations mitigation for shipboard applications.

Keywords:
Additive Manufacturing (AM), Tunable Mass Damper, 3D Printers, Vibration Mitigation System (VMS), machine learning., Ship Motion, High-Frequency Vibrations