SPEE3D, have announced a strategic collaboration with the Australian Government, aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defence capabilities amidst ongoing conflict.
Their WarpSPEE3D printers, along with comprehensive training, will be provided to Ukrainian soldiers and engineers.
As part of this initiative, we will strategically deploy three of our WarpSPEE3D printers across various locations in Ukraine.
This technology will empower Ukrainian forces to rapidly fabricate critical parts for military equipment within hours – compared to more traditional methods that often involve long waits for replacements or dealing with obsolete parts.
“We’re delighted to equip Ukrainian soldiers with state-of-the-art Australian technology that bolsters their resilience and readiness,” said Byron Kennedy, CEO at SPEE3D.
What sets the deployable metal 3D printers apart is it’s unique proprietary and patented cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) technology.
Unlike traditional 3D printing techniques, rather than using heat or lasers to melt metal powders, SPEE3D developed ‘Supersonic 3D Deposition’.
This is the name given to the patented process in which a rocket nozzle accelerates air up to three times the speed of sound, into which metal powder is injected then deposited onto a substrate manoeuvred by a six-axis robotic arm.
In this process the sheer kinetic energy of the particles hitting each other causes the powders to bind together to form a high density part of a near net shape with metallurgical properties superior to casting.
Because the process is able to deposit powder at 100g a minute, this means the technology is capable of manufacturing metal parts in minutes, and in just hours for larger parts.
The technology’s ruggedised hardware makes the printers ideal for manufacturing in a contested environment because they can be transported to or near the point of need.