Wire Additive Manufacturing developer AML3D Limited has signed a contract for an alloy characterisation and testing program to support the US Navy’s submarine industrial base.
The $264,400 contract is in line with the ongoing expansion of AML3D’s strategic partnership with the US Navy and is also part of the company’s US market scale-up strategy.
The agreement was signed with BlueForge Alliance, a non-profit, neutral convener and integrator supporting technology adoption and acceleration across the US defence sector in conjunction with the US Department of Defense.
The alloy characterisation and testing program seeks to demonstrate that specific 3D-printed alloys meet the manufacturing standards required to supply components to the US Navy’s submarine program.
The ASX-listed company will leverage its ARCEMY systems for the alloy testing program to produce industrial-scale components on-demand, at or near the point of need.
Work associated with the contract will be conducted at AML3D’s facility in Adelaide and is expected to commence immediately, with the anticipated completion date set eight to 10 weeks from now.
AML3D CEO Ryan Millar said the company’s US expansion comes amid heightened interest in the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies to help meet increasing demand brought by the AUKUS alliance.
It also follows the recent sale of an ARCEMY X-Edition 6700 system for use at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
“This expansion into the US will result in AML3D being well-positioned to access the opportunities that will be created as a result of the AUKUS Alliance, both in the US and Australia, where we have an established advanced manufacturing and research and development base in Adelaide, home to the Osborne Naval Shipyard, Australia’s largest naval shipbuilding hub,” Millar said.
The contract’s value is not material but demonstrates that AML3D is continuing to build momentum in the US market— the largest additive manufacturing market in the world, the company said in an ASX announcement.
