U.S. Army Develops Battle-Ready 3D-Printing Technology

摘要

War may be hell or good for absolutely nothing, depending on whether your cultural references hark back to GeneralWilliam Sherman or Edwin Starr, but military innovation has a long track record, eventually, of making civilian life better.Whether it’s microwave ovens by way of radar, the internet né Arpanet, or the EpiPen inspired by Cold War-era autoinjectors,many military applications have transitioned from the battlefield to the home front with welcome results. While3D printing doesn’t fall into that category, strictly speaking, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development CommandArmy Research Laboratory (ARL) is pushing the technology forward in ways that may jump-start some exciting commercialapplications. ARL has developed an additive manufacturing technology producing dual-polymer parts that will allow soldiersto quickly swap out broken plastic parts with durable, 3D-printed replacements, according to a recent article from the ArmyNews Service. The technology could be deployed as soon as this year.