by Industrial Print Magazine Staff
Additive manufacturing’s (AM’s) use in defense and military applications is growing. It can be as specific as creating a part instrumental in the creation of a motor meant to power a military tactical vehicle or in the case of the following spotlight, it may produce an item that helps move something from point A to point B.
Above: UltiMaker was tasked with putting its 3D printers to the test by designing and producing a part capable of lifting a 12-ton armored vehicle with the help of Covestro for the Royal Dutch Navy.
UltiMaker was tasked with putting its three-dimensional (3D) printers to the test by designing and producing a part capable of lifting a 12-ton armored vehicle with the help of Covestro for the Royal Dutch Navy.
Why? The three entities were trying to determine the strength of 3D printing. The Royal Dutch Navy presented the idea of a 12-ton armored vehicle, more specifically, it had a special lifting tank at its disposal, which utilized two openable steel rings to connect to a crane and cables, which then attached to the lifted vehicle.
The 3D printed part in this assembly was an elongated O-shaped link that connected the two openable steel rings. Lars de Jongh, application engineer, UltiMaker, imported the geometry of the steel rings into CAD software, which allowed for the fruition of the initial design.
Optimized Design
During the creation process, de Jongh determined certain requirements for the final part. The link needed to have a flat side for a stable 3D print. It also required layer lines printed in the same direction as the forces projected on the part. Finally, the printed part and metal rings’ interacting surface had to be as large as possible to spread forces evenly.
Next up, determining the right material for the part. In this case, turning to the UltiMaker Marketplace was a smart choice, as it is filled with hundreds of materials to choose from. Characteristics that needed to be met were that it was extremely strong but also able to absorb short peak forces.
Ultimately, the team chose Addigy F1030 CF10 from Covestro. It is a carbon fiber-filled PA6/66 copolymer filament.
Once the material was chosen, computer simulations helped optimize the initial design to save on material waste. Covestro utilized special software that measures the exact physical properties of the carbon fiber nylon material and digitally applied the forces on de Jongh’s design. This helped identify necessary adjustments as well as where to remove excess material. It yielded a final design that lifted more weight while using less material, resulting in a faster production time with less cost.
Prior to determining the final design, verifying the printed part’s physical strength was required. Due to this two designs at two different sizes were generated. The first, a one-kilogram link estimated to withstand 12 tons. The second a close to two-kilogram link estimated to withstand 38 tons.
Using an industrial tensile test the Royal Dutch Navy has on site, all the versions were tested—this included de Jongh’s initial version as well as the optimized design that ran through the Covestro software. The result was that the optimized design was able to withstand a higher force, while weighing a third less.
Final Experiment
Designing, printing, and testing the 3D printed part took several months. The final tests were enacted on a Dutch Army base in the Southern Netherlands. The one-kilogram link was used to lift a military jeep weighing over two tons without any issues.
The two-kilogram link was placed between an M113 armored vehicle and a crane. The metal rings were tightened in place and four cables were attached from the lower hook to the vehicle. As the crane rose, the cables and 3D printed part were placed under tension. Then, the 12-ton vehicle slowly rose up, hovering above the ground, hanging from a 3D printed link.
After months of work on the link, the experiment was a success. The project proved that a 3D printed piece, in this case a carbon fiber-filled link, was strong enough to lift a 12-ton armored vehicle. Projects like this exemplify the resilience of 3D printed items, making them useful in many different scenarios across military and naval bases.
Feb2026, Industrial Print Magazine
