Home-Australia Turns to 3D Printing to Rebuild Its Sovereign Supply of a Critical Naval Alloy
A consortium of Australian universities, research institutions, and an advanced manufacturing firm has launched a collaborative initiative to tackle a pressing challenge in naval defense: the domestic production of nickel aluminum bronze (NAB), a high-performance alloy essential to marine propulsion systems.
The project, backed by funding from theQueensland Defence Sciences Alliance(QDSA), brings togetherCharles Darwin University(CDU),James Cook University(JCU), theAustralian Institute of Marine Science(AIMS), and manufacturing technology companySPEE3D.
NAB is valued across a wide range of demanding applications, from aircraft landing gear bearings and submarine propellers to pumps, valves, gears, and non-sparking tools, owing to its exceptional strength, toughness, wear resistance, and corrosion performance. Despite its importance, conventional methods for producing NAB components are no longer feasible within Australia, creating a vulnerability in the country’s defense supply chain.
CDU Research Professor Kannoorpatti Krishnan, who is leading the effort, framed the stakes clearly: “This reduces downtime, strengthens resilience in forward operating bases, and ensures continued operational effectiveness in contested maritime environments. The project also secures a strategic advantage by generating new knowledge of material behaviour in Pacific tropical waters, where microbial communities are unique and largely unstudied.”
The solution proposed by the team centers on SPEE3D’s cold spray manufacturing (CSM) process, a high-speed additive manufacturing approach that the company claims is the only method in the world currently capable of producing an NAB-equivalent material. Rather than relying on traditional casting, this technique offers a faster, more localised, and more controllable production pathway.
SPEE3D co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Steven Camilleri highlighted the broader significance: “If NAB can be printed with a demonstrated equivalence to qualified cast material, the opportunity is far more than novelty. It represents the recovery of a strategically important maritime alloy; one that, when produced using additive manufacturing techniques, means parts will become more readily available through a faster, more local, and more controllable production route.”
QDSA Director Stuart Blackwell echoed this perspective, noting that the approach represents “a step change in the future of logistics and sustainment” by enabling maritime parts to be manufactured closer to where they are actually needed.
Rigorous Testing in Tropical Marine Conditions
A key component of the project involves subjecting the 3D printed NAB parts to real and simulated seawater environments to evaluate their long-term durability. JCU’s Distinguished Professor Peter Junk and his team will contribute expertise in rare earth incorporation into the NAB base alloy, as well as surface analysis to understand microstructural behaviour after field exposure. Corrosion testing will be conducted under variable conditions, adjusting pH, salinity, temperature, and flow, at AIMS’ National Sea Simulator (SeaSim) in Townsville.
Source: 3D Printing Industry
