EDITOR’S CHOICE
FASTER TOOLING & ASSEMBLY
3DPRINTUK
THE EXTREMES OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
When Norway based Kongsberg Maritime,
a specialist in technology for use in extreme
conditions, was designing a chassis for a
subsea measurement instrument, it turned to
3DPRINTUK to help with the manufacture of
key components. MEPCA found out more.
Kongsberg Maritime is an international
technology group working in the maritime,
defence, aerospace and digital sectors.
Kongsberg is at the forefront of pushing
technology in extreme conditions, so it comes
as no surprise that additive manufacturing
has a role in their design process. As additive
manufacturing grows and becomes a viable,
recognised option for producing custom
parts with a finish close to injection moulded
parts, more and more design engineers
are exploring and adopting selective laser
sintering (SLS) technology to produce
innovative products. As a result of this
growth, the more engineers demand from the
technology, the more investment is made to
advance the capabilities of the method.
Kongsberg Maritime delivers products and
systems to merchant vessels and offshore
installations for positioning, navigation,
automation and handling systems, as well as
products and systems for seabed surveying
and monitoring, and fishing vessels and
fisheries research. 3DPRINTUK specialise in
low-volume production through additive
manufacturing and in particular SLS. By 3D
printing parts in SLS Nylon P12, and with very
few restrictions in design, manufacturers can
create components with reduced weight while
maintaining strength. Users of the innovative
method save on manufacturing costs thanks
to material savings and assembly time
reduction. In addition, clever design means
that the number of components gets reduced
and prototyping that used to take weeks can
be done in days, in multiple variations, all
branded with unique part numbers.
Robert Kovacs, Senior Subsea Design
Engineer at Kongsberg Maritime approached
3DPRINTUK when they started a new project
to design a chassis for a scientific subsea
instrument used in underwater positioning
and mapping. “The part is a multi-functional
product chassis, not just a simple bracket
to join two things together. It has clever
features and functionality that we would not
get from a similar metal or injection moulded
part,” explained Robert. “The chassis flexes
extensively to allow a heat shrink sleeve to
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be placed around battery cells and a PCB,
which simplifies assembly tremendously.
To secure the product during transport and
handling, a tiny slide-bolt arrangement
allows for a zip-tie to be inserted, again
greatly saving handling time and reducing
risk.”
Small printed extrusions act as standoffs,
screw guides and screw anchors which
make the whole assembly extremely rigid.
Features such as these cost nothing during
printing but save greatly on handling,
assembly and repair. “Right from the start,
deciding to 3D print this pivotal part in
a new design meant that we were able
to shrink the size of the product while
integrating features and functionality that
are simply not available through other
manufacturing methods,” continued Robert.
Robert was also able to save money on the
cost of other products by nesting parts.
As well as price breaks for higher quantities,
3DPRINTUK allow users to nest parts around
one another to take advantage of any
unused space. The smaller the space users
take up within the printer, the less they are
charged.
Summing up his experience of additive
manufacturing, Robert concluded: “I believe
that the biggest advantages when 3D
printing parts are the time savings thanks
to faster tooling and assembly, along with
the ability to make far more intelligent parts.
We would, of course, have these features
and advantages if this part was injection
moulded. But it is not possible to make an
injection mould tool with all these features
in one part, as it has too many details and
undercuts in too many different directions.”
3dprint-uk.co.uk