Additive solutions for U.S. Air Force sustainment challenges

Ongoing sustainment for aging aircraft components

The U.S. Air Force increasingly faces sustainment challenges, including cost, speed, and supply chain agility, when using traditional manufacturing methods to maintain aging aircraft components. The department often seeks innovative engineering solutions to keep aircraft aloft and to modernize the fleet. In 2020, they hosted an open competition to quickly find new and creative 3D printing solutions for the C3175 family of hydraulic line clamps. Thousands of these clamps are used in the Air Force’s F-16 aircraft, in areas like landing gear cavities, and they frequently fail after extended exposure to vibration, environmental chemicals, and heat cycling. Historically, these clamps have been injection molded or CNC machined from a phenolic material that off-gases toxic formaldehyde.