AML3D installs largest custom machine at Austal USA-run AM Center of Excellence in Virginia

Wire arc additive manufacturing business AML3D said it has delivered its largest custom ARCEMY machine, with this set up and operated by shipbuilder Austal USA at the US Navy’s AM Center of Excellence (AM CoE) in Danville, Virginia.

Austal USA leads and operates the AM CoE, which currently operates a large scale ARCEMY 6700 system delivered in early 2024. This second custom machine makes use of “an 11,000kg  positioner and a linear rail of over four meters” and features a build volume of approximately 35 cubic metres, according to AML3D.

AML3D CEO Sean Ebert said in an ASX statement on Wednesday that successful delivery of the system “aligns with our ambitions to expand the range of U.S. defense work we do. 

“AML3D already has a track record of deploying our WAM Additive Manufacturing technology in support of the U.S. Navy submarine industrial base.”

Ebert added that he had recently returned from two weeks in the United States, inspecting the company’s Ohio facility (officially opened in December last year) and meeting stakeholders.

“The US Government’s ‘Make Shipbuilding Great  Again’ initiatives are set to expand, by a factor of three, the potential U.S. Defense markets AML3D’s additive manufacturing technology can address.”

The news follows Tuesday’s announcement that AML3D had secured its first significant UK contract, worth approximately $830,000, to supply BAE Systems with 8.5 tonnes of Nickel Aluminium Bronze wire feedstock as part of a material feasibility program.

Picture: credit AML3D

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