3D Printed Elastomers for the Ocean: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Maritime Standards

Resumen

Modern maritime engineering faces critical logistical challenges regarding the supply chain of elastomeric components, such as seals, gaskets, and flexible conduits. Traditional manufacturing methods impose severe economic and time barriers, including long lead times and a total dependence on centralized shore infrastructure, which are incompatible with urgent emergency repairs at sea. While polymer Additive Manufacturing (AM) emerges as a disruptive decentralized solution, its widespread implementation is bottlenecked by a critical regulatory gap. Current maritime frameworks, such as IACS Recommendation 186, explicitly restrict their scope to metallic alloys, whereas standards like DNV-ST-B203 lack quantitative protocols for hyperelastic and sealing performance validation. Furthermore, long-term service standards like ISO 23936-2 assume absolute material isotropy, a premise broken by the layer-by-layer nature of AM. To bridge this gap, this paper introduces a Unified Qualification Framework (UQF) for marine elastomeric replacements. The UQF integrates structural and process requirements from classification societies with severe fluid aging and Rapid Gas Decompression (RGD) testing, establishing a mandatory validation strategy oriented along the most unfavorable building axis (Z-axis) to account for interlaminar weakness and capillar porosity. Additionally, an operational segregation model is proposed. This framework eliminates the inefficient case-by-case approval bottleneck, providing a standardized technical foundation for classification societies to regulate on-demand marine elastomeric manufacturing.