Military Applications in Combat Support
Image © Clegg, Ind.
Make Parts Fast has an interesting article on the US Military’s “Mobile Parts Hospital” (MPH), a facility to quickly manufacture, reverse-engineer, and finish metal and plastic in the field.
The program includes a Lathe Manufacturing Model (LMM) based on a 5-axis Mazak Integrex with all tooling and maintenance equipment stored on board. Set up takes less than 1 hour.
• Max machining diameter: 11.42 in.
• Max machining length: 28.62 in.
• The LMM can machine both ferrous and nonferrous metals, plastics and ceramics.Another part of the MPH is the Agile Manufacturing Cell.
This is a fixed facility that includes multiple manufacturing capability, reverse engineering, and finishing. It increases manufacturing capability of the MPH program with equipment that can’t be deployed due to size, weight, or environmental concerns. Capabilities include:
• Machining of larger items
• Finishing: heat treating, surface-coating, hard-turning, broaching, grinding
• Reverse engineering
• Precision investment casting
All of this is hardware is sized and packaged for shipping in a C-130 with a setup time of less than an hour. Data is managed through a PTC Windchill PLM system.
From the abstract:
The Mobile Parts Hospital (MPH) helps the Army with logistical backups in maintaining sustainment and readiness at the battlefield front. Now going into its third phase of the program and scheduled to be transitioned to a Program Manager (PM), the MPH has proven its ability to build parts in a mobile rapid manufacturing environment. This paper will outline the progress of the Lathe Manufacturing Module (LMM) and it’s successes in deployment to Kuwait and advances with the Laser Engineered Net-Shaping(Trademark) (LENS(Registered)) technology and the ability to rapidly build near net shape parts from powdered metal in a mobile environment. The LENS(Registered) has been upgraded for increased performance in build speed and advances in near net-shaping of parts. Increased laser power and newly added equipment effects on build profile and deposited material will be discussed, in audition to lessons learned from the current prototype LMM to advances & developments in future changes made to the LMM modules for deployment.
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