Dalhousie University using 3D-printing technology to make replacement parts for navy vessels

Crystal Garrett meets a Dalhousie professor who is helping 3D print submarine parts to support Canada's navy.

Halifax’s Dalhousie University is partnering with the Department of National Defence to extend the life of Canada’s aging naval fleet.

The project uses an industrial-grade form of 3D printing to produce critical parts for vessels, like submarines.

Paul Bishop, a materials engineer at Dalhousie and lead researcher on the project, says the process is much faster than typical repairs or replacement.

“Which means to get a replacement part it costs many, many dollars and can take months just to get a singular part,” he says. “Whereas with 3D printing, once you have the acquired approach nailed down, which is what we do at Dalhousie, you can print a part in a matter of hours or days.”

A gas atomizer is among the pieces of equipment Bishop and his team uses.

“(It) is where we convert solid metallic materials into a powder form that we need as the feed stock for the 3D printing process,” he says.

The powder is a copper-based alloy. Bishop says it comes from pieces of decommissioned naval vessels that his team is essentially recycling into powder, to then recycle into new vessel parts.

The next step in the process is done at the university’s Advanced Manufacturing Hub where the metal 3D printing research is done.

“The level of detail and resolution is pretty amazing. We have three different technologies here that we’re using,” says Bishop.

Directed energy deposition is among them.

“The navy’s interest in this technology is that we can use it to repair worn or damaged components so they can be put back into service in a fraction of the time and a fraction of the cost,” Bishop says.

“This is a gamechanger for the navy and a lot of different circumstances and we can really get that vessel back in service in a very short period of time.”

The team then designs and develops parts, like impellers, from the metal powder from the gas atomizer.

They also use different technology to repair existing parts, like pipes.

“With this technology you can overlay different materials that have different properties, better corrosion resistance, or rebuild a worn surface, so that part can be put back into service,” explains Bishop.

He says one the main benefits of this technology for the navy is to keep everything in Canada.

“To keep everything secure and hopefully to grow an ecosystem within the defense sector where they’ll be many, many companies doing this sort of work for the Canadian navy,” Bishop says.

“It’s been a great development for the university and with our proximity to the Canadian armed forces and the naval base of course it’s been a real win-win situation for everybody.”

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page