NASA fires rocket nozzle made with new 3D printing tech

Rocket nozzles have a very simple, but important function of expanding and accelerating the combustion gases or other propellants from a rocket. In very simple solid rocket motors, this nozzle might be a plug of milled metal, but in larger, more advanced liquid fueled rockets, they are very complicated constructs that circulate cold fuel around the nozzle to protect it against the extremely hot, high-pressure gases from the combustion chamber.

The problem is that these nozzles need to be fabricated out of many parts, which makes building prototypes slow and expensive. 3D printing can simplify this by allowing engineers to produce a nozzle with many fewer parts that can be quickly and cheaply produced – allowing for rapid prototyping.

The NASA-developed LWDC is an advance on more conventional powder-based metal printing methods. In the latter, metal alloy powder is spread in layers, which is melted into the desired pattern using lasers or electron beams. LWDC is more freeform, using directed energy beams to melt metal wires and directly depositing the molten metal in a manner similar to that used in plastic 3D printing. According to the space agency, LWDC can reduce fabrication time from months to weeks.

NASA is using LWDC in conjunction with an abrasive water jet milling process and an arc-based deposition technology. The three new technologies were used to precisely close out the coolant channels inside the nozzle to form a support jacket and to fabricate the liner to contain the water jet milled channels.

NASA says that the technology, which was developed through the agency's Small Business Innovation Research program in partnership with Keystone Synergistic of Port St. Lucie, Florida, will be licensed for commercial applications as a way to stimulate small businesses.

The video below shows a test firing of a 3D-printed nozzle.

Read Again NASA fires rocket nozzle made with new 3D printing tech : http://ift.tt/2HXIDKE

Let's block ads! (Why?)