GE Additive Print Services (www.ge.com) has been awarded a contract by General Dynamics Land Systems that will see it support the latter with part qualification, production, post processing and inspection of additively manufactured components (financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed).

The two companies, which have already been working together to identify applications in which additive manufacturing can provide value through weight reduction, performance optimisation and lead time reduction, recently ‘transitioned’ a titanium cable guard through to production.

This one-piece component, which was designed by General Dynamics to replace an 18-piece welded steel component, achieved an 85% weight saving compared with the original part; it will be the first additively manufactured metal production component on a US ground combat vehicle and “paves the way for similar applications to follow.

In production, the cable guards will be additively manufactured on GE Additive Arcam EBM Q20plus machines, which can work with titanium alloys because the process takes place in a vacuum at elevated temperatures.

Jason Deters, a specialist in process and technology development at General Dynamics, said: “We are always looking for innovative technologies to enhance our products, and additive manufacturing holds real promise in the near term.

“We will continue to team up with leading suppliers such as GE Additive as we uncover additional applications for this exciting technology.

“The GE Additive team has been a great partner during this transitional period, and we have benefitted from their expertise on the specific design and qualification requirements for additive-manufactured production components.”