The French Navy is reported to have validated the use of Meltio’s Direct Energy Deposition (DED) Additive Manufacturing technology during military manoeuvres carried out in May. The Navy used Meltio’s wire-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED) metal AM machine on an experimental basis, after passing adoption tests of the company’s AM technology.
It was reported that the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle had been experimentally using the Meltio AM machine as part of the Ursa Minor exercise – a high-intensity operational maintenance naval exercise organised by the Fleet Support Service (FSS). As part of the exercise, a special breakdown repair experiment was carried out in the workshops of the French Navy’s logistics department in Toulon. Meltio’s machine is installed on shore at the Toulon arsenal and was receiving requests for the manufacture and repair of metal parts from the aircraft carrier.
“We are at a point of overcoming technological tests of the Meltio metal 3D printer for the French Navy. Its state of use is experimental. The French Navy is using this Meltio machine on land,” stated Jean-Marc Quenez, director of Innovation and Additive Manufacturing at the Service de Soutien de la Flotte (SSF) of the French Ministry of Defense.
“The machine is installed at our naval base, the Arsenal, located in the city of Toulon. After months of preliminary tests at our technology centre in Toulouse, south of France, to test Meltio’s wire-laser DED technology, the transfer of the printer to Toulon was approved. The main objective of this transfer is to respond to the Navy ships that are sailing with their repair and manufacturing needs in different metallic materials, mainly stainless steels and Inconel, for which Meltio’s Additive Manufacturing system is very efficient in the result of the parts obtained,” continued Quenez.
“We chose Meltio for this exercise because it allows us to repair existing metal parts and with this machine, we manufacture test parts with DED technology, not final parts that we then post-process and machine according to our needs. The Spanish brand’s metal 3D printer meets our expectations for reliability and is very easy to use by our engineers. We anticipate that this metal 3D printer will continue to be functional and will be part of our experimental Additive Manufacturing usage programme that continues to evolve,” he added.
The French Navy is said to already be considering including the technology in upcoming real-life manoeuvres, and may incorporate it on board ships in its fleet in the future.
The announcement marks the third approval of Meltio’s metal Additive Manufacturing for the defence sector, with France joining the US Navy (which hosts a Meltio machine aboard a military vessel) and the Spanish Army (which using the technology for the manufacture and repair of metal parts.)
Meltio’s hardware, metallic materials and software have passed various technological tests worldwide, allowing the company to become a strategic partner capable of meeting the high demands of different armies around the world with its Additive Manufacturing technology. Currently, armies in other countries are said to be in the process of validating Meltio’s AM technology.
