The Use of Additive Manufacturing in Maritime Industry

Additive manufacturing (AM), also referred to as ۳D printing, has seen a significant rise in demand recentlybecause of several critical benefits. AM technologies help avoid tooling costs for shorter production runs by greatlyimproving prototyping and on-demand production. Consequently, AM has gradually extended its role more in variousfields including aerospace, automobile, medical and and so on. In particular, since filament based methods could beeasily applied at homes or small workshops, AM has also become an area of interest for personal application. Newsolutions based on metal AM have become available to industries recently, expanding potential productionapplications. This paper discusses AM technologies from the perspective of a relatively new application area which isthe maritime industry. Firstly the context of the AM processes and materials is described. Next, potential application ofAM is presented and explained with an emphasis placed on the maritime industry. AM is discussed and its benefits areconsidered in relation to prototype fabrication and on-demand spare supply networks. AM can easily come up withdesigns that improve on the simplicity of a product, shorten the time needed to produce these products, anddecentralize production, which is well suited to maritime firms. Therefore, by evaluating the existing conditions andprospects of AM in the maritime sector, this paper will make efforts to stimulate more profound study and applicationof AM for seafaring purposes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Industry ۴.۰ ، Additive Manufacturing ، ۳D Printing ، Maritime Industry