Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Debralee Lutgen | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – A five-part 3D printed ventilator system awaits assembly...... read more read more
Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois – The Rock Island Arsenal – Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center’s primary mission is to support the readiness and modernization of the Warfighter, but, in addition, they are now supporting the fight against COVID-19.
RIA-JMTC’s Advanced and Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence received a request from the Army Medical Logistics Command to reverse-engineer a five-part ventilator housing box, then 3-D print and assemble the parts.
“Clearly our nation is in need,” said Col. Martin J. Hendrix III, commander, RIA-JMTC. “While our nation and our Army are no strangers to responding to natural disasters and internal concerns of our nation, COVID(-19) is a different animal. Most of us haven’t experienced a pandemic on this level and so the entire nation being in need at the same time really calls for an all-hands-on-deck approach. Being that we’re part of the Army Organic Industrial Base, we have the ability to turn on a dime when the Army needs us to do something.”
These parts were no longer available from the original equipment manufacturer and, due to COVID-19, were in high demand. No technical data was available so the CoE began by scanning and reverse-engineering the parts with their software.
“We had no prints, no models or anything to go from,” said Barrett Craps, additive manufacturing specialist, RIA-JMTC.
Following the reverse engineering, team members from the center then printed prototypes for testing. After making adjustments and a few design improvements, the printing began.
Due to these being no technical data, proving out the parts was required before the center produced them. Following prove-out, the workers began printing their first order of 55.
“That’s one of the great things about having the advanced and additive manufacturing capability; we can very quickly prototype and produce parts that are needed and this is a great example,” said Hendrix. “Having an arsenal like JMTC with the Army’s Organic Industrial Base, we can very quickly change our priorities to meet the nation’s needs as directed by the Army. Having the Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence makes us even more nimble in our ability to do that.”
The box takes up the entire printing envelope, so nothing else can be printed while it is running, but all five parts nest in the same machine for printing, according to Craps. This means all parts are completed at the same time and can begin post-processing.
These parts are being shipped as they are printed, blasted, painted and assembled. All parts from the first order are on schedule to ship in less than a month from the initial request.
The team working on these ventilator housing boxes said they are thrilled about the impact of these parts.
“I’m very fortunate to be over here and to be able to help people that are really in need of these products, literally life-saving products,” said Glynn Roach, additive manufacturing specialist, RIA-JMTC. “It’s a good feeling to know I’m coming in and helping people stay alive. It’s a good feeling to come in every morning and know that we’re making a difference.”
| Date Taken: | 04.22.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2020 16:05 |
| Story ID: | 368156 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 243 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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