NASA uses 3D printer to make copper rocket engine part

NASA has long wanted to use 3D printers to make parts for space missions when they are needed rather than having to carry huge amounts of spare parts to cover every possible breakage event. NASA is also looking to use 3D printers here on Earth to reduce the cost of building and maintaining rockets and other systems. NASA has used a 3D printer to make its first full-scale copper rocket engine part.

NASA says that constructing the full-scale copper rocket part using an additive is a milestone for aerospace 3D printing. Additive manufacturing helps NASA both save time and reduce costs when it comes to making parts like the copper liner used in rocket combustion champers where extremely cold propellants are mixed and heated to the temperatures needed to power rockets.

NASA says that when used inside a rocket engine, the thin copper liner wall can reach temperatures of over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit and to prevent melting, gasses that are cooled to less than 100 degrees above absolute zero are circulated on the other side of the wall.

To allow that gas to circulate, the copper liner for the combustion chamber has more than 200 tiny channels between the liner and the outer wall. Using a selective laser melting machine NASA was able to fuse 8,255 layers of copper powered to create the chamber in 10 days and 18 hours. NASA says its goal with making parts in this way is to build the engine parts up to ten times faster and reduce costs by more than 50%.

SOURCE: NASA