The RIZE company is Headquartered at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The US Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) is the primary research and development group for the US Army’s armament and munitions systems. The ARDEC team works on advanced materials and technologies with a focus on material properties. This effort led ARDEC to expand into additive manufacturing, specifically, to identify the types of materials that can be used in additive manufacturing equipment to meet the needs of the US Army.

… With approximately 25 3D printers in their lab, ranging from small, $500 hobby-class desktop machines to large $500K+ industrial-class additive manufacturing equipment, they are always looking for the latest equipment to test and use for their unique applications in the field, where soldiers need spare parts and custom tools on demand.”

.Matthew Brauer, scientist for the Advanced Materials Branch of ARDEC

Why they choose RIZE?

Rize caught the attention of the AMTB team (Advanced Materials & Technology Branch within ARDEC) for its unique hybrid Augmented Deposition process that enables the simultaneous extrusion of engineering-grade thermoplastic and the jetting of functional inks from print heads for traceability. They were also impressed with Rize’s minimal post-processing after printing.

James Zunino, Materials Engineer at ARDEC, added how useful Rize’s simple and clean post-processing can be in regions where water resources can’t be wasted for post-processing parts. They were also impressed with the Z-strength of Rize parts, which is important for the Army’s wide variety of functional part applications.

 Spare Parts & Tools: On-Demand

AMTB’s Rize One 3D printer is used to produce spare parts, such as robot wheels and vehicle parts. For example, soft skin Humvee window knobs and handles break off easily, preventing soldiers from getting in and out of the vehicle. They needed a way to quickly and easily manufacture new ones on the fly. They reverse engineered the originals and print them on Rize One. Previously they printed these parts on an extrusion technology, but the parts needed to soak in a caustic solvent for 4-6 hours following printing before they could be used.

Using Rize One, the parts are available for installation immediately after printing.This amounts to a savings of up to 6 hours per part; which can mean the difference between getting the part in one day vs. two days.

“A system can go down because of one missing part and something like 3D printing can get you back in the fight.That’s a huge benefit to the Army,” said James. “If a handle is broken on purge pump or wheel is damaged on an EOD robot, you can print a new one.”

ARDEC also uses Rize One to produce a wide range of tools needed in the field. For example, 55-gallon drums are used to store chemicals. Unaware that there is a specific tool forremoving the drum cap, new soldiers often try use whatever is handy – screwdrivers and other sharp instruments – that can cause them injury and destroy the cap. A replica was reverse engineered using SOLIDWORKS and ARDEC printed the tool with Rize One, enabling easy and safe removal of the cap. If the tool is misplaced or left behind during a move, a new one can quickly and easily be printed on the fly in less than one day.

Another tool that ARDEC prints with Rize One is a generator wrench that is easily lost during moves. Using 3D Scanners, they reverse engineered the wrench and print electrically neutral replacements on demand with Rize One.

Rize One is also used for mission-critical applications, including forward grips that mount to the picatinny rail on rifles. ARDEC downloads the publicly available files, customizes them as needed and prints them on Rize One. Soldiers prefer the unique and custom rifle grips and having ARDEC produce them with Rize One enhances their performance.

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Source: Additive Manufacturing RIze Additive Manufacturing helps soldiers get parts faster; builds trust into critical parts http://additivemanufacturing.com/2019/02/25/rize-additive-manufacturing-helps-soldiers-get-parts-faster-builds-trust-into-critical-parts/, published on Feb25, 2019 and was re-edited by João Andrade on Mar6, 2019;

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