Dutch 3D printing firm CEAD partnered with Damen Compact Crafts (DCCr), part of the Damen Shipyards Group, to develop a 3D printed HDPE workboat.CEAD makes gantry and robot arm-based large format material extrusion 3D printers and extruders.The company previously worked with GKN on a composites nozzle, with engineering firm Royal Haskoning to make pedestrian bridges, and sold a 36 meter-long 3D printer to Abu Dhabi’s Al Seer Marine.
Damen, meanwhile, is the de facto military shipbuilder for the Royal Netherlands Navy.The firm employs 9,000 staff, has $3 billion in revenue, and builds around 150 ships worldwide.It does so from 9 different sites, remarkably making small tugboats, pontoons, and super yachts.
Damen is known for building and combining modular components, integrating, and making them at different sites across the world.The company also rather uniquely has vessels in stock, and is equipped to partner with local builders to have them construct a Damen design in your country.It also produces the Anti Submarine Warfare Frigate for the Belgian and Dutch Navy, a new platform which will be equipped with the NSM and a VLS system.
The ship’s hulls are being laid in Romania, and will be outfitted with advanced radar and more in the Netherlands. Since around 2014, Damen has been working on its Interceptors, a 55 knots fast class of metal hulled boats meant for coast guard rescue and interdiction tasks.These bone-shaking craft can also be used for rescue, patrol, as tenders to a Navy ship, and to insert special forces.The Interceptors have traditionally been made with aluminum or E-glass and carbon reinforced epoxy.
E-glass and CFRP generally work well but could shatter, are environmentally problematic to build, and difficult to recycle.Now, these two partners want to make HDPE speedboats at CEAD´s Delft-based Maritime Application Center.In additive, we have a lot of misgivings about HDPE (high-density polyethylene), since it is difficult to print.
However, it is a very apt material for large format 3D printing.Indeed, Tideman Boats has been quickly building out a niche for itself in very tough and durable workboats, including Interceptor-like craft, using HDPE.Lately, Tideman has unveiled patrol and landing craft versions of its boats.
These are not 3D printed, but showcase the ability for a sustainable, recyclable/and or recycled material that can outlast many others in the water. It is easy to see how 3D printing could make a lot of sense, particularly to Damen, with their modular, labor and cost saving approach.This development could give them an easy, reduced labor cost, with eminently configurable technology that is more sustainable.Each country or service could get exactly the specifications it would want.
Importantly, 3D printing HDPE is significantly cheaper than making CFRP boats—generally.The duo aim to make a patrol and inspection boat, and are hoping to achieve greater design freedom, and perhaps recycled materials as well.Charlene van Wingerden, Chief Business Development Officer at CEAD, said, “This collaboration demonstrates how technology can directly contribute to practical solutions in the maritime sector.
The MAC was founded to accelerate exactly these kinds of innovations – and a 3D-printed HWB is a perfect example of that.” Nick Pruissen, Managing Director at Damen Compact Crafts, stated, “Innovation and standardisation are part of our DNA at Damen.3D printing allows us to respond more quickly and flexibly to what our customers really need.It’s an exciting step toward smart, sustainable solutions that work.” The boat will be made with CEAD’s HDPro material.
CEAD is making all the right moves here in partnering with the largest local shipbuilder to make more sustainable boats.These boats could be cheaper, better meet customer needs, and be produced faster as well.Large format 3D printing could become a mainstay in the construction of small workboats and speedboats.
This in turn is one of the largest—in terms of revenue and number of boats—slices of the shipbuilding market.When combined with modular power and technology packages, this could be an exciting offering for boatbuilders, letting them expend less capital to make new models, dispense with mold making, and reduce labor costs.The business case for 3D printing small polymer boats is a very strong one indeed.
At the same time, if we look beyond the current market and towards large scale deployment of UUV (unmanned underwater vehicles) and UVS (unscrewed surface vessels), 3D printing could be an essential technology for their fabrication.I believe that it is clear that Wolfpacks of unmanned vessels are the most cost-effective platforms for sensing large swatches of the ocean, and in quick engagement globally of larger, more costly ships.This has been proven out in Ukraine already; we’re only waiting for the world to catch up to the reality.
CEAD and Damen however, don´t seem content to wait, but are forging ahead into the future.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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