It has been promised by engineers for years that spacecraft in the future will be printed on a 3D printer. Finally, last autumn, the first elements of a rocket engine were manufactured using additive technology. But is a new technological revolution coming so soon?
3D printing of aluminum parts
Additive technologies are those in which the material is attached to the product rather than removed from it during the manufacturing process. The most common example of it is 3D printing. Now engineers are arguing more intensely than ever about how widely it can be used in the space industry.
NASA tested an aluminum 3D printed rocket engine nozzle in the autumn of 2023. Aluminum is not typically used in additive technologies because the process leads to it cracking, and its low melting point makes it a difficult material for rocket engines. However, the test was successful.
Printing aluminum engine parts could save significant time, money and weight for future spacecraft. Elementum 3D Inc., a project partner, is making these benefits available to the commercial space industry and other sectors.
The fire test was the culmination of a collaboration between NASA and Elementum that began shortly after the company was founded in 2014 to make more materials available for 3D printing. The company, based in Erie, Colorado, fills metal alloys with particles of other materials to change their properties and make them suitable for additive manufacturing. This became the basis for Elementum’s Reactive Additive Manufacturing (RAM) process.
Introduction of new technologies into manufacturing
NASA has embraced the technology, qualifying a version of RAM made of ordinary aluminum alloy for 3D printing. The organization then provided funds to print the Broadsword experimental rocket engine, demonstrating the viability of the concept.
Meanwhile, a team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, worked to adapt the new technology to print large engines. In 2021, Marshall announced an opportunity to collaborate with Elementum 3D to modify aluminum alloy for printing as part of the “Reactive Additive Manufacturing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” project.
The project also made a widely used aluminum alloy available for large-scale 3D printing. It is already used in large satellite components and is applicable in the production of microchips, Formula 1 car parts, etc.
The alloy modified for the Broadsword engine is already used in brake rotors and lighting fixtures. These diverse applications illustrate the opportunities that come from NASA’s collaboration and investment in industry.
According to phys.org
