Marine 3D Printing
At Elimold, we are at the forefront of innovation in the demanding field of offshore engineering. Our state-of-the-art 3D printing technology is setting new standards in marine performance, providing unparalleled advantages for marine projects. It can help marine designers and engineers to prototype, manufacture tools and produce parts.
3D Printing Solutions for Marine
Elimold’s marine 3D printing services are able to manufacture complex designs such as propellers, impellers and turbine blades, revolutionizing the way underwater equipment is produced, achieving superior performance that cannot be achieved with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing technology has brought significant progress to the global marine manufacturing industry. Our industrial 3D printing technology uses lightweight, waterproof thermoplastics, composites and metals to manufacture complex parts in a fast and cost-effective manner. It can also provide efficient and economical repair solutions for damaged parts at sea, helping to minimize downtime for vessels and equipment. In addition, our services are able to meet the unique needs of marine researchers, producing custom sensor housings that can withstand high-pressure seabed conditions and supporting the development of prototypes for cutting-edge research tools used to explore marine life and underwater ecosystems.
How Marine and Offshore Engineers Use 3D Printing Services
When performance and reliability are critical, our advanced 3D printing solutions provide a significant competitive advantage. By creating high-precision, custom components that enhance fluid dynamics and durability, our technology significantly improves vessel efficiency and performance. By leveraging 3D printing, marine design and capabilities can reach new heights. The technology helps produce precise and resilient components that can survive the most extreme marine environments.
Rapid Prototyping
Jigs & Fixtures
Production End-use Parts
Precision Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping through Elimold’s 3D printing services streamlines the iterative design process. Customization capabilities are also enhanced, enabling designers to precisely tailor components to specific requirements or unique vessel configurations. Designers can quickly transform digital concepts into physical prototypes, enabling the creation and testing of multiple iterations in a short period of time. Real-time feedback on performance, buoyancy, corrosion resistance, and structural integrity informs designers’ decisions, helping to adjust and improve digital designs in real time. In addition, rapid prototyping can improve communication and collaboration between different teams or stakeholders involved in the product development process. By providing a physical representation of the design, rapid prototyping can help clarify design concepts and facilitate discussions around functionality, aesthetics, and other design considerations. This cost-effective optimization process significantly reduces the risk of design flaws and accelerates time to market for marine components and vessels.
Reduce ship manufacturing costs and start production
Ship designers can quickly iterate and adapt their designs, reducing the carbon footprint associated with long-distance shipping by manufacturing locally. Elimold enables ship designers to be more flexible, environmentally friendly and responsive to local needs. By rapidly prototyping and producing components, there is no need for long shipping times, which reduces lead times.
Our Digital 3D Printing Manufacturing Process
Elimold’s instant quoting platform helps strengthen your supply chain and get parts tailored to your needs. Whether you need parts for prototyping, R&D, validation, or full production. Leverage our advanced capabilities and virtually unlimited capacity to accelerate your timelines and consistently meet innovation deadlines. Print end-use parts and prototypes directly from CAD files in just 1-4 business days. This time efficiency allows for additional rounds of testing to improve designs and reduce risk before investing in tooling. Our broad material selection gives designers the flexibility to experiment with everything from soft rubber to flame-retardant plastics and metals.
3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Services for Marine
Elimold offers best-in-class manufacturing capabilities, ideal for rapid prototyping and custom production orders. With our own facilities and extensive manufacturing network, we are able to efficiently deliver complex, high-quality parts.
Metal 3D Printing
Stereolithography (SLA)
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
Multi Jet Fusion (MJF)
PolyJet
Carbon DLS
Direct Metal Laser Sintering
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
Metal Binder Jetting
Selective Laser Melting (SLM)
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
ColorJet
Unlocking Marine Design Freedom
Elimold’s marine 3D printing services provide marine designers with unparalleled design freedom to create complex geometries, lightweight structures, and components tailored to specific needs. For example, manufacturers can use 3D printing to create lightweight yet strong lattice structures or honeycomb patterns, or incorporate internal channels for cooling or fluid flow. Design flexibility also enables manufacturers to create components with complex internal structures or features, such as those with integrated cavities, channels, or other features that are difficult or impossible to create using traditional manufacturing methods. With Elimold’s 3D printing services, designers can push the boundaries of traditional marine components and ship design, driving innovation, efficiency, and customization while addressing the industry’s unique challenges and requirements.
Skip mold production and print end-use parts directly
Elimold’s 3D printing services can be used to manufacture a variety of maritime end-use parts, such as dashboards and radar masts for yachts. These parts can be printed in a matter of hours, allowing ships, yachts, and boats to sail to the sea where they belong without repairs. Additionally, by printing these parts directly as one piece, they can be easily sealed to achieve waterproofing while still having an ergonomically contoured design. Thanks to the massive size of Elimold’s 3D printing system, the number of components required for the final build is greatly reduced, which in turn increases fault tolerance. This capability is particularly important for the marine industry, as certain components must be 100% sealed and waterproof. Elimold’s additive manufacturing technology can also be used to print groundbreaking ship prototype models at extremely fast speeds.
Advanced 3D Printing Materials
Designers in the marine industry benefit from Elimold’s range of advanced 3D printing materials tailored for the rigors of the marine environment. These materials include high-performance plastics such as ASA, as well as stainless steel and titanium that are resistant to saltwater and UV exposure. Nylons and polyamides offer excellent toughness and chemical resistance, while stainless steels are corrosion resistant. Aluminum alloys combine lightness and strength, carbon fiber reinforced composites offer a high strength-to-weight ratio, and materials such as PEEK and ULTEM offer chemical resistance and resistance to extreme temperatures. These material options allow designers to optimize components for specific marine challenges, ensuring durability and performance.
Issues to consider when selecting materials
When selecting materials for marine applications, certain key characteristics play a vital role in ensuring optimal performance and longevity. The selection process is guided by the following considerations:
- Lightweight properties: The selected materials must have low density to ensure buoyancy, a key factor in ensuring that the vessel remains afloat.
- UV stability: Selecting materials that are UV stabilized and modified ensures resistance to the degrading effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a prevalent factor in the marine environment.
- Waterproofness: Prioritizing waterproof and modified materials is essential to enhance resistance to water absorption, which is essential to maintaining structural integrity during long-term exposure to marine conditions.
- Stress resistance: The selected materials should have high stress resistance, which is a prerequisite for withstanding the dynamic and often harsh conditions in the marine environment.
- Low shrinkage/swelling: Minimizing shrinkage and swelling, especially for larger structures, is essential to ensure dimensional stability and structural reliability.
- Antibacterial, antifouling, anti-algae properties: Selecting materials with antibacterial properties, antifouling properties, and resistance to algae growth are beneficial to keeping marine structures clean and efficient.
- Fire resistance: Materials with inherent or improved fire resistance are beneficial, providing an additional layer of safety in the event of fire-related risks.
- Customizable colors: The self-coloring ability of the material adds versatility, allowing for customization based on aesthetic preferences or functional requirements.
On-demand production of 3D printed marine parts
Marine industry designers can now leverage Elimold’s services to produce parts or products precisely when and where they are needed, without having to maintain large inventories and long, complex supply chains. This shift brings many benefits, such as reduced warehousing costs, reduced risk of overproduction and waste, and the ability to respond quickly to changes in demand or design modifications. Elimold’s on-demand production service can reduce waste and environmental impact because it only produces necessary parts, rather than overproducing and potentially discarding excess parts. This is particularly important in the marine industry, where environmental issues are often a major consideration. As a result, our on-demand production service offers a variety of advantages to marine manufacturers, including cost savings, increased flexibility and responsiveness, and reduced waste and environmental impact. This makes it a powerful tool to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the marine manufacturing process.
Benefits of working with us
Working with us provides access to cutting-edge 3D printing technology and materials, ensuring precision and high performance for every project.
Our custom solutions reduce production time and costs while maintaining consistency and accuracy.
Our focus on innovation and quality enables businesses to streamline the concept-to-reality process efficiently and achieve outstanding results.
Interested in 3D printing solutions for marine applications?
Have questions or need support? Contact our team! Elimold’s experts are ready and happy to help you realize the full potential of your 3D printing additive manufacturing solutions.