NAVY EXPEDITIONARY ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (NEAM) CAPABILITY INTEGRATION

This capstone report analyzes the current and future use of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies within the Department of Defense (DOD). This analysis provided the technical background necessary to develop the Additive Manufacturing Process and Analysis Tool (AMPAT). AMPAT will help stakeholders identify what AM equipment best serves warfighters and their missions in expeditionary environments. Furthermore, the tool can be used by stakeholders to identify the most advantageous dispersions of AM capabilities across the fleet and make decisions on how those capabilities should be integrated into the greater naval mission and larger DOD enterprise. A systems engineering (SE) approach was implemented to gather information on current and prospective AM methods in order to understand and define the AM system operational requirements. Additionally, an SE process was utilized to analyze alternative software options to build the tool, implement agile software development processes to develop the tool, and verify and validate that the tool met the project requirements. The study found that AMPAT successfully outputs a ranked list of AM systems recommendations based upon user-defined input parameters and weighting values. Recommendations for choosing AM equipment and developing dispersion plans for the fleet include using the AMPAT deliverable to conduct customized, iterative analysis with user-defined inputs that are tailored to specific expeditionary environments.Outstanding ThesisCivilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the ArmyCivilian, Department of the NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited