Underwater 3D printing technology is coming

Everyone must have heard of 3D printing technology, and this technology is also developing more and more rapidly and comprehensively. Nowadays, there are more underwater 3D printing technology, specifically to solve the problem of submarine maintenance. When our maintenance personnel were anxious about not being able to perform their skills because they were under the sea, a robotics company in Norway has begun to study this problem. Let us learn about underwater 3D printing technology through the following article.

According to reports, the global underwater maintenance market is huge, with more than 10,000 kilometers on the Norwegian continental shelf alone. The current solutions for repairing and extending the service life of underwater pipelines are usually time-consuming and costly. In many cases, production needs to be stopped due to weather.

The well-known Norwegian robot company Kongsberg Ferrotech stated that the company is developing a revolutionary technology-"subsea additive manufacturing with extended service life."

This underwater 3D printing research and development project is jointly implemented by SINTEF and other major industrial participants, and is funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

This Norwegian company is an expert in underwater robots. The Oktapous, Nautilus and Exoskeleton products are autonomous robots used to inspect, repair and maintain underwater equipment. In some operations, these robots can perform maintenance of underwater equipment without the need for divers and other conventional equipment. The most advanced underwater 3D printing technology is also the result of the robot's full potential.

This company has developed an underwater robot system Nautilus that can be used to remotely operate composite materials on submarine pipelines. Kongsberg Ferrotech is currently cooperating with Equinor, SINTEF, Gassco and other companies to increase 3D printing capabilities for underwater robot systems.

The project will use underwater 3D printing technology to help achieve on-site maintenance of subsea pipelines, pipelines and other subsea components, thereby greatly extending the service life of underwater equipment. The development goal of the project is to use three-dimensional printing technology to reconstruct the damaged metal structure of the seabed, and even achieve the effect of permanent repair, while printing new parts as needed. For KongsbergFerrotech, the development of this technology means that in the future, it is possible to "place the workshop directly next to the damaged underwater pipeline" instead of building the damaged parts in the on-shore workshop for subsea replacement, which greatly saves maintenance costs and time.

The company said that it has completed deep-water maintenance testing of composite materials in Trondheim Bay, Norway, and underwater 3D printing is expected to be put into use for the first time in 2022.

Let us wait and see the implementation effect of this project, I believe that underwater 3D printing technology will be very popular in the future, and it will definitely help our maintenance personnel to solve various incurable diseases.