A Salem-based valve company has been awarded a contract to produce a 3D-printed valve assembly for U.S. Navy submarines.

According to a press release, Hunt Valve, based out of Salem was awarded this contract through the Maritime Sustainment Technology and Innovation Consortium (MSTIC).

This assembly, which is the first of its kind, will provide the Navy with a product that meets or exceeds the quality produced through additional sand-casting in about two thirds less time.

Until recently, 3D printing for submarine components have only been possible for small parts and pieces, and applications for challenging alloys such as copper-nickel have been rare.

According to the release, these 3D-printed valve bodies have drastically higher first-time yields compared to sand-casted copper nickel, which in turn accelerates production and delivery timeframes since these bodies are much less likely to need to be reworked or corrected.

Hunt Valve's contract with MSTIC will allow for the 3D-printed valve to be installed on any U.S. submarine class.

The valve assemblies are being developed by Hunt Valve in collaboration with Lincoln Electric, which is headquartered in Cleveland. The valve body is produced by Lincoln Electric through 3D-printing.

Once printed, the valve is then delivered to Hunt Valve to manufacture the remaining components using the standard manufacturing process and then assembling all the parts to create the full valve assembly.