German manufacturing company RPM has developed a 3D-printed padding system for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) helmets that replaces traditional foam materials with a lattice structure. The additively manufactured padding uses customizable lattice geometry to adapt mechanical properties like stiffness and damping behavior for different areas of the head. This design approach aims to improve protective performance while reducing weight and enhancing ventilation compared to conventional foam padding.
The company manages both development and manufacturing of the padding components, which are produced on industrial 3D printing systems from Farsoon. These systems provide the process stability and repeatability required for safety-critical applications. RPM’s customer handles marketing of the complete helmet and padding protective system.
To ensure quality standards for the safety-critical components, RPM uses software solutions from amsight for continuous data acquisition and analysis throughout the manufacturing process. The data-driven approach allows the company to identify deviations from target values early and intervene before defects occur. This system provides documentation and traceability requirements essential for safety applications.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA provided scientific support for validating manufacturing quality through data analysis processes. The institute helped rpm implement the amsight software using process and machine data from the Farsoon systems, focusing on identifying relevant process variables and defining quality metrics.
“As the development and manufacturing partner of our customer, our focus was on creating a padding system that can be produced reproducibly and reliably meets the required quality characteristics,” says Dr. Jörg Gerken, Technical Managing Director at RPM. “The combination of additive manufacturing and data‑driven quality assurance plays a central role in this.”
Source: eurekamagazine.co.uk