BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The agency’s reverse logistics arm took another step toward implementing a critical materials “circular economy” mindset with the successful identification and recapture of excess titanium in Kansas in July.
The Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services site team at Fort Riley received several containers of scrap metal in April that included titanium-bearing tubing, fittings, and machined parts weighing over one ton. Mid-America region personnel reached out to major subordinate command headquarters in Michigan and the agency’s research and development team to explore possibilities for the metal’s reuse.
It just so happened that DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon had recently been briefed on a U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command contested logistics exercise that could put high-quality titanium powder to use in 3D printing. And it also just so happened that DLA had an existing research and development contract with a firm employing microwave-based plasma to turn scrap machined metal or alloys into high-purity “feedstock” powders for additive manufacturing use.
Contractor representatives conducted on-site purity testing at Fort Riley using an X-ray fluorescence gun to evaluate the scrap's composition. About 340 pounds of the material was marked as high grade, suitable for reuse as additive manufacturing powder, with the remainder denoted as partitioned scrap to be sold through separate DLA contracts.
DLA Disposition Services Process Engineer Don Helle said that after segregating the high-purity titanium, the recovery process calls for the site to upgrade the material from scrap inventory to “usable” status and then transfer it to DLA’s research and development team for turnover to the contract holder for powder creation.
“With titanium scrap being set aside for processing, TACOM’s exercise can use titanium powder to 3D print new parts on site,” Helle said. “And DLA can begin evaluating the value of scrap beyond simple tonnage and consider our Periodic Table elements as a ‘feedstock source of supply.’ Sorted scrap metals sales will also drive higher returns. These outcomes increase both warfighter readiness and tax dollar stewardship.”
Property Disposal Specialist Joseph Neuman leads materials management efforts within the MSC’s Operations directorate, including the development of tools and processes to streamline DLA’s global scrap business. He observed the titanium materials testing and said that this initial field collaboration with the DLA R&D-selected contractor was both productive and insightful.
“Our organization is leaning forward to position itself to reclaim resources from end-of-life parts,” Neuman said. “The meeting fostered working relationships and a shared understanding of objectives. Through detailed discussions, we identified specific ways to improve our material identification processes and better support the goals of critical and strategic material reclamation.”
The Fort Riley effort is the second recent instance of DLA leveraging an existing contract to explore materials recovery from its military excess property stream. In late May, reverse logisticians stationed at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia teamed up with DLA Strategic Materials personnel to identify and transfer 126 excess germanium-bearing thermal cameras and sights to an agency contractor for eventual material recapture and addition to the National Defense Stockpile, which DLA manages as feedstock to the armed services and defense industrial base.
The sourcing of critical minerals and production materials remains a critical topic for the defense production industry and the U.S. military given new curbs on their exportation from China enacted in the past year. The U.S. government has responded in various ways, including the issuance of an executive order directing an increase in domestic critical minerals production, increased Defense Production Act appropriations, and Congressional calls for greater investments in DLA’s National Defense Stockpile.