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A Feasibility Study of Additive Manufacturing for Rapid Prototyping at an Air Force Depot.

Record Type:	Language materials, printed : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	A Feasibility Study of Additive Manufacturing for Rapid Prototyping at an Air Force Depot./
Author:	Gill, Jason C.
Published:	Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, : 2019,
Description:	141 p.
Notes:	Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 80-07(E), Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertation Abstracts International80-07A(E).
Subject:	Business administration. -
Online resource:	http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=13427912
ISBN:	9780438873346

A Feasibility Study of Additive Manufacturing for Rapid Prototyping at an Air Force Depot.
Gill, Jason C.

A Feasibility Study of Additive Manufacturing for Rapid Prototyping at an Air Force Depot. - Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2019 - 141 p.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 80-07(E), Section: A.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Northcentral University, 2019.

This study was conducted to explore qualitative factors impacting the likelihood of adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) tools, techniques, and principles at the United States Air Force (USAF) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) depot. The USAF ICBM depot is the only organization in the United States that repairs missile components and support equipment that cannot be maintained in field units. Other depot organizations have directly or indirectly adopted AM for one or more production or prototyping purposes and benefitted from several of AM's advantages, yet the USAF ICBM depot has yet to do so. Adoption at the ICBM depot may alleviate parts shortages and prototyping development time that negatively impact weapon readiness for maintaining a credible nuclear deterrence. This study used semi-structured interviews with professional engineers directly supporting the USAF ICBM depot to illicit thoughts about the overall feasibility of adoption AM, merits of AM, and leadership attitudes about the adoption of AM. Responses were collected and analyzed for themes using ATLAS.ti qualitative analysis software and manual methods. Participants generally responded positively about technical feasibility and merits of adopting AM in the USAF ICBM depot, but indicated non-technical barriers may have slowed adoption efforts. Participants also responded positively about the general technical merits of AM, but their responses were often provided in the context of consumer-grade equipment rather than industrial equipment that may better benefit their organization. Responses about leadership attitudes toward and commitment to AM adoption fell mostly in the neutral to negative spectrum. As a result of the contextual knowledge of the participants and suboptimal leadership attitude and commitment, this study concluded that it is not yet feasible to adopt AM at the USAF ICBM depot. This study recommends additional research directly in the USAF ICBM depot using quantitative data such as cost analysis to corroborate or refute this conclusion.

ISBN: 9780438873346Subjects--Topical Terms:

1148568
Business administration.

A Feasibility Study of Additive Manufacturing for Rapid Prototyping at an Air Force Depot.
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