Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii -- JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – The 15th Maintenance Squadron metals technology shop completed a specialized 3D printing operator certification course in August, ensuring the shop can continue to additively manufacture approved aircraft components on-site for the C-17, F-22 and transient aircraft missions.
The training, facilitated through the Rapid Sustainment Office by an instructor from the University of Dayton Research Institute, is a required prerequisite for Airmen to additively print parts that can go directly on aircraft.
“The biggest advantage is you can take a broken part of unknown dimensions and reverse engineer it and print a prototype to test fit the same day before we spend on a week or two manufacturing a part out of metal that potentially otherwise wouldn’t fit.” said Tech. Sgt. Jacob Proffer, 15th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology non-commissioned officer in charge.
Hickam’s printer has been used for approximately six years, but maintaining its operational impact is dependent on having certified operators. The most recent course was the first time U.S. Army personnel joined the Air Force training as a way for the Army to certify their own operators on Schofield Barracks.
“Before [this training] I did not know how to run this machine at all,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Grayson Scott, 25th Division Sustainment Brigade allied trade specialist. “Now I can run this machine from start to finish.”
In addition to enhancing readiness, the capability provides substantial cost and labor savings, as traditional machining often requires purchasing large, expensive blocks of material and cutting them down, creating excess waste.
While 3D print manufacturing is typically used for short term mechanical parts due to quality and durability, the printers authorized by the USAF allow the manufacturing of high-quality permanent replacement parts on site. The shop only uses the required amount of material needed for each part, reducing waste, storage requirements and raw material costs instead of traditional subtractive manufacturing. This streamlined process can save dozens of man-hours per job while eliminating the need for multiple logistics steps.