The traditional "subtractive" method of creating a part begins with a big piece of solid material, or "billet," that you then "machine out." Casting and machining parts results in a significant amount of waste. In contrast, additive manufacturing, or AM, creates parts layer by layer, with a design based on a 3D model in a computer, and builds it up. There is little waste. Jennifer Wolk, a materials engineer at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Bethesda, Md., said AM technology is not new. "We've been following this technology for a long time," she said. A number of commands are using and researching AM, including Naval Warfare Development Command, the Navy's air, surface and undersea warfare centers, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, and others. "There's a lot of collaboration," Wolk said. "We're all trying to make the technology more accessible for the warfighter. When people think of manufacturing, they think of the old paradigm. Today, there is a much larger skill set involved."
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