Consortium brings marine 3D printing closer
Parts fabricated using the technology, known as additive manufacturing (AM), were installed on board Polar Endeavour, an oil tanker owned by Sembcorp Marine, in February 2021.
After six months in operation, all parts were retrieved and inspected by the vessel’s crew, followed by a remote survey by ABS. “We are delighted with the performance of the parts and the successful completion of the project,” said Patrick Ryan, ABS senior vice president, global engineering and technology.
“It’s an important step forward for a technology that certainly has a significant role to play in the future of the marine industry,” he added.
AM brings flexibility to where products and components are manufactured, shrinking the supply chain for specialised and complex parts and making the whole process more efficient. Components can even be manufactured on board ships or offshore assets.
For this project, the consortium used AM to fabricate three types of parts, namely the gear set and gear shaft for boiler fuel supply pump, flexible coupling for marine sanitation devices pump and an ejector nozzle for fresh water generator.
In 2021, ABS published its Guide for Additive Manufacturing focusing on two main categories of metal AM processes – powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition.
