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TESTING3DCOPPER PARTS
FORROCKETS
NASA’s Game Changing Development
Program in the Space Technology and
Mission Directorate recently co-funded a
groundbreaking test series with Aerojet
Rocketdyne (AR) at NASA’s Glenn Research
Center, Cleveland. Working with NASA, AR
successfully completed the first hot-fire
tests on an advanced rocket engine thrust
chamber assembly made of copper alloys.
This was the first time a series of rigorous
tests confirmed that 3D manufactured
copper parts could withstand the heat
and pressure required of combustion
engines used in space launches. NASA
and AR conducted 19 hot-fire tests on four
injector and thrust chamber assembly
configurations, exploring various mixture
ratios and injector operability points.
All were deemed fully successful and
the work is a major milestone in the
development and certification of different
materials used in the 3D printing process.
NEWSLOT DIE PROCESS
SLASHES BATTERY
PRODUCTIONCOSTS
Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology (KIT), Germany, boosted the
manufacturing speed of electrode foils
coated in batches by a factor of three.
This record-breaking performance was
achieved by a patent-pending, flexible
slot die process that enables production
of any pattern with high precision and
at high speeds. As a result, lithium-ion
batteries can be manufactured at much
lower costs. After three years of research,
the team headed by Wilhelm Schabel
and Philip Scharfer of the Thin Film
Technology group of the KIT Institute of
Thermal Process Engineering increased
the speed of intermittent production
of the electrode foils representing the
actual energy storage systems to 100
meters per minute. Up to now, 25 to 35
meters per minute had been the industrial
state of the art. Within the “Competence
E” project, scientists developed a
revolutionary coating technology that
makes it possible not only to produce
continuous coatings, but also patterns
featuring high precision.
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PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
Rocket engine parts made by 3D manufacturing in copper alloy undergo
hot-fire testing at NASA Glenn with Aerojet Rocketdyne. Courtesy of NASA.
BRIEFS
General Electric (GE) will build a $32 million manufacturing facility outside of
Pittsburgh to drive innovation and implementation of advanced manufacturing
technologies such as digital fabrication, rapid prototyping, and open innovation.
The facility will focus on improving capabilities and usage of additive
manufacturing across GE while advancing materials sciences and inspection
technologies. Construction will be complete by September 2015. .
A new process developed by KIT enables
coating of electrode foils at record speed.
Courtesy of M. Schmitt/KIT.
HARPER
INTERNATIONAL,
BUFFALO, N.Y.,
FINALIZED A
CONTRACT FOR A
RESEARCH SCALE
HIGH-TEMPERATURE
REACTOR TO SUPPORT
UNIVERSITY OF
COLORADO BOULDER’S
DEVELOPMENT OF
MAGNESIUM FOR
LIGHTWEIGHT VEHICLE
PARTS.
.
A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5