3D printers keeping navy shipshape

3D printers are displayed at an electronics show in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Nov 8, 2014. [Photo/IC]

The People's Liberation Army navy has begun to adopt cutting-edge additive manufacturing technology, commonly known as 3D printing, on its ships, according to PLA Daily.

One of the transmission gears on a navy destroyer broke suddenly when the vessel was anchoring at its home port after an operation at sea in the past week. The part was repaired using a 3D printer on board the ship, the report said.

"We have benefited from the use of 3D printing technology," Ren Yalun, an officer in the ship's mechanical and electrical section, told PLA Daily.

"The 3D printer is like a miniature processing and manufacturing workshop that is able to quickly mend or produce parts－even nonstandard components."

Additive manufacturing is a process in which three-dimensional objects are made through the layering of material. The technology is advancing rapidly and is increasingly used in the manufacturing sector.

The PLA has approved the application of 3D printing technology and plans to promote it in the military's equipment support system, the newspaper cited Xu Binshi, a senior PLA expert on equipment repair, as saying.