A new 30ft high-performance, 3D-printed boat could help manufacturers build vessels faster, cut the need for expensive moulds and adapt designs more quickly for commercial and defense use.
That’s the aim of the University of Maine (UMaine) whose vessel, 3Dirigo X, was designed and manufactured at its Advanced Structures and Composites Centre.
The vessel has been built to handle offshore conditions at speeds up to 40 knots, with UMaine saying the launch marks a major step in moving large-scale 3D printing from a technological demonstration toward a practical manufacturing tool.
The 3Dirigo X builds on UMaine’s original 3Dirigo, unveiled in 2019 and also built using large-scale 3D printing, that earned three Guinness World Records.
R&D projects
“What’s different today, again, is the fact that we can model and design vessels,” said Habib Dagher, executive director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Centre.
“We have developed technologies to design vessels that can withstand the kinds of extreme environments in the open ocean.
“Today is a big milestone for our research and development projects.”
The researchers have also have made the manufacturing process faster – the printing rate has increased from about 20lbs per hour when the research began to about 500lbs per hour.
Improvements in composite materials, digital design, sensors and process controls also helped shorten production timelines.
Manufacturing capabilities
The launch comes as UMaine prepares to open its Factory of the Future within a new 55,000sqft GEM facility, which will further expand the university’s large-scale additive and convergent manufacturing capabilities.
The aim of The Factory of the Future is to expand Umaine’s capabilities and reach a deposition rate of 1,000lbs an hour.
3Dirigo X was developed through the federally funded Accelerated Rapid Prototyping initiative, which has brought UMaine together with national defense research organisations, national laboratories and industry partners to advance large-scale manufacturing technology.
