MX3D Unveils its 3D Printed Pipeline Clamp for the Oil & Gas Industry

MX3D, an AM company perhaps best known for its installation of a 3D-printed metal bridge in Amsterdam earlier this year, has unveiled their latest project, a 3D printed pipeline clamp for the Oil&Gas industry. The part was made and tested in collaboration between MX3D, Team Industries and TiaT and created using a hybrid approach which included MX3D’s robotic Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) process. Ultimately, the part was able to be tested and certified, with a high level of assurance, showing the usefulness of WAAM in the Oil&Gas sector.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been gaining in popularity in the oil & gas sector, as well as in the energy sector in general. In fact, already this year, we have seen a 3D-printed safety critical component that was made by Vallourec and Total which was installed on an offshore oil rig. Additionally, 3D-printed safety critical parts were also installed at a nuclear plant in Alabama. Though perhaps not as widespread as in other industries, AM is useful for the industries not just for the ability to make complex parts, but for the short lead times which MX3D notes are critical especially in oil and gas. This is because these shorter lead times not only save money, but also help to decrease environmental, human and safety risks.

The 3D printed clamp was made using a hybrid WAAM process (photo credits: MX3D)

The 3D Printed Pipeline Clamp

In this specific case, a pipeline clamp was created. These are designed to be installed on damaged or leaking pipework and are key in the industry has a way to prevent incidents and increase run times of an installation before maintenance would be required. Since repairing a pipeline could take up to 2 to 3 weeks, potentially losing 100k to 1M EUR per day, having the ability to quickly make a clamp could help companies save a significant amount of money. Plus, since current repair processes typically rely on CNC milling or specialized manual labor, 3D printing is beneficial as CNC machining is known for its high material waste (about 80% of the original material) and specialized labor in the field is scarce.