South Korea is taking metal additive manufacturing to a much larger scale with a new project aimed at producing 5-meter-class ship propellers using 3D printing technology.
The Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), together with 3DFactory, has been selected for a major shipbuilding and marine technology development project backed by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The project will focus on developing and verifying a manufacturing process capable of producing extremely large marine components through metal additive manufacturing. Rather than stopping at a prototype, researchers plan to take the technology through manufacturing, performance verification and classification certification.
The research program is scheduled to run for 54 months, with total project funding of approximately 11 billion won, including about 8.5 billion won in government-supported research and development funding.
From Casting to Metal 3D Printing
Large ship propellers are traditionally manufactured using casting processes in which molten metal is poured into molds. Producing components of this size can require substantial amounts of material, long manufacturing times and significant post-processing.
The South Korean team plans to replace parts of this conventional workflow with Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM).
WAAM uses an electric arc to melt metal wire while a controlled manufacturing system deposits the material layer by layer. Because the component can be built directly from digital manufacturing data without requiring a traditional casting mold, the technology could shorten production times and improve material utilization.
AI Will Help Control the Giant Print
Producing a five-meter metal component presents challenges that go far beyond simply scaling up a conventional 3D printer.
As large quantities of metal are deposited and heated, thermal stresses can cause the component to distort or warp.
To address this problem, UNIST plans to develop an AI-based reverse deformation correction system. The system will analyze information from the design, additive manufacturing process and inspection stages to predict thermal deformation and compensate for it during production.
Researchers ultimately hope to create a more autonomous manufacturing process suitable for industrial environments.
A Potential New Tool for Shipbuilding
The project could have implications beyond manufacturing new propellers.
Because additive manufacturing works from digital design data, similar technology could eventually enable large marine components and discontinued replacement parts to be manufactured when needed.
The research team is specifically looking toward opportunities in the U.S. naval maintenance, repair and overhaul market, as well as replacement-part procurement. The project will also pursue the certification needed to demonstrate that these large additively manufactured components can satisfy marine-industry requirements.
Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing
Metal 3D printing has already established itself in industries such as aerospace, automotive, energy and medical manufacturing. Producing a ship propeller measuring approximately five meters across, however, demonstrates the push toward much larger industrial applications.
The South Korean project brings together large-scale WAAM, Design for Additive Manufacturing and AI-assisted process control in an effort to make enormous metal components more practical to manufacture.
If successful, the technology could help shorten production cycles, improve material efficiency and provide shipbuilders with greater flexibility when manufacturing or replacing complex marine components.
From tiny precision components to enormous ship propellers, the scale of additive manufacturing continues to grow — and this project could help demonstrate just how large industrial 3D printing can become.
