Reclamation Information Sharing Environment (RISE)

This research tackled a common problem seen in many old facilities - replacing legacy components which are no longer produced or available for purchase. This research explored advanced manufacturing methods to reproduce a complex-shaped large sheet metal roof panel at a hydropower facility. The research explored fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, binder jet metal printing, incremental sheet forming (ISF), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), traditional sheet metal fabrication, and metal stamping. The process involved reverse engineering, modeling, prototyping, and exploring manufacturing methods. The resulting research ultimately chose the ISF-produced panel. After two design iterations, 27 new roof panels were procured. The panels were powder coated and turned over to the facility for future repairs and panel replacement. The project successfully alleviated the need to replace the entire large roof structure and extended the lifetime of the existing roof structure by approximately 10 years.