\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA Additive Manufacturing Project Shapes Future for Agency, Industry Rocket Makers\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ramptheader1.jpg?w=1536\")
<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\nAdditively manufactured rocket engine hardware coupled with advanced composites allows for precision features, such as multi-material coolant channels developed by the Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology team at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCredits: <\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe widespread commercial adoption of additive manufacturing technologies, commonly known as 3D printing, is no surprise to design engineers at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama whose research created stronger, lighter weight materials and new manufacturing processes to make rocket parts.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s RAMPT (Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology<\/a>) project is on the cutting-edge of additive manufacturing \u2013 helping the agency and industry produce new alloys and additively manufactured parts, commonly referred to as 3D printing, according to Paul Gradl, the project\u2019s co-principal investigator at NASA Marshall.<\/p>\n\u201cAcross NASA\u2019s storied legacy of vehicle and hardware design, testing, and integration, our underlying strength is in our application of extremely durable and severe environment materials and innovative manufacturing for component design,\u201d said Gradl. \u201cWe strive to fully understand the microstructure and properties of every material and how they will ultimately be used in components before we make them available to industry for flight applications.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same principle applies to additive manufacturing, the meticulous process of building components and hardware one layer of material at a time.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/g-669607-osorio-cs80-july31-1950x1980-1.jpg?w=1950\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThe graphic captures additive manufacturing technology milestones led by the RAMPT project. Using 3D-printed, liquid oxygen\/hydrogen thrust chamber hardware at chamber pressures of up to 1,400 pounds per square inch, Marshall engineers have completed 12 hot-fire tests totaling a combined 330 seconds. The project also has delivered composite materials demonstrating a 40% weight savings over conventional bimetallic combustion chambers. NASA and its industry partners are working to make this cutting-edge technology accessible for a host of future NASA and commercial space missions. <\/div>\nNASA\/Pablo Garcia<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cThe RAMPT project\u2019s goal is to support commercial, technical readiness, enabling our industry partners to meet the challenges inherent in building new generations of safer, more cost-effective deep space exploration propulsion systems,\u201d said John Fikes, RAMPT project manager.<\/p>\n
Since its inception, RAMPT has conducted 500 test-firings of 3D-printed injectors, nozzles, and chamber hardware totaling more than 16,000 seconds, using newly developed extreme-environment alloys, large-scale additive manufacturing processes, and advanced composite technology. The project has also started developing a full-scale version for the workhorse RS-25 engine \u2013 which experts say could reduce its costs by up to 70% and cut manufacturing time in half.<\/p>\n
As printed structures are getting bigger and more complex, a major area of interest is the additive manufacturing print scale. A decade ago, most 3D-printed parts were no bigger than a shoebox. Today, additive manufacturing researchers are helping the industry produce lighter, more robust, intricately designed rocket engine components 10-feet tall and eight-feet in diameter.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dnb-9394.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nTyler Gibson, left, and Allison Clark, RAMPT engineers at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, inspect an additively manufactured composite overwrap thrust chamber assembly. Conventional rocket hardware may require more than 1,000 or more individually joined parts. Additive manufacturing permits engineers to print these channels in novel alloys as a single piece with multiple alloys, dramatically reducing manufacturing time. <\/div>\nNASA\/Danielle Burleson<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cNASA, through public-private partnerships, is making these breakthroughs accessible to the commercial space industry to help them rapidly advance new flight technologies of their own,\u201d Gradl said. \u201cWe\u2019re solving technical challenges, creating new supply chains for parts and materials, and increasing the industry\u2019s capacity to rapidly deliver reliable hardware that draws a busy commercial space infrastructure ever closer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The RAMPT project does not just develop the end technology but the means to fully understand that technology, whatever the application. That means advancing cutting-edge simulation tools that can identify the viability of new alloys and composites at the microstructural level \u2013 assessing how they handle the fiery rigors of liftoff, the punishing cold of space, and the dynamic stresses associated with liftoffs, landings, and the long transits between.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s strategy to encourage commercial and academic buy-in is to offer public-private partnership opportunities, wherein industry and academia contribute as much as 25% of project development costs, allowing them to reap the benefits.<\/p>\n
For example, NASA successfully delivered a refined version of an alloy, known as GRCop42<\/a>, created at NASA Glenn nearly 40 years ago which helped commercial launch provider, Relativity Space, launch the first fully 3D-printed rocket<\/a> in March 2023.<\/p>\n\u201cOur primary goal with these higher-performance alloys is to prove them in a rocket engine test-fire environment and then hand them off to enable commercial providers to build hardware, fly launch vehicles, and foster a thriving space infrastructure with real scientific, social, and economic rewards,\u201d Gradl said.<\/p>\n
A key benefit of additive manufacturing hardware development is radically reducing the \u201cdesign-fail-fix\u201d cycle \u2013 when engineers develop new hardware, ground-test it to failure to determine the hardware\u2019s design limits under all possible conditions and then tweak accordingly. That capability is increasingly important with the creation of new alloys and designs, new processing techniques, and the introduction of composite overwraps<\/a> and other innovations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"Shown](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/03292022-hf-02-015.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\nShown above, during a hot-fire test at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, this 2,000-pound-force coupled thrust chamber assembly features a NASA HR-1 alloy nozzle. Manufacturing the hardware requires the directed energy deposition process with composite-overwrap for structural support, reducing weight by 40%. Industry, academic, and government partners are working with RAMPT engineers at Marshall and other NASA field centers to advance this revolutionary technology.<\/div>\nNASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dnb-9428-edit-darkedgefull.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\nThis 2,000-pound-force coupled thrust chamber assembly features a NASA HR-1 alloy nozzle directly deposited onto the additive manufacturing combustion chamber using the directed energy deposition process and composite-overwrapped for structural support, reducing weight by 40%. It was hot-fire tested at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Industry, academic, and government partners are working with RAMPT engineers at Marshall and other NASA field centers to advance this revolutionary technology. <\/div>\nNASA\/Danielle Burleson<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ramptheader3.jpg?w=1024\")
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<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The widespread commercial adoption of additive manufacturing technologies, commonly known as 3D printing, is no surprise to design engineers at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama whose research created stronger, lighter weight materials and new manufacturing processes to make rocket parts.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s RAMPT (Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology<\/a>) project is on the cutting-edge of additive manufacturing \u2013 helping the agency and industry produce new alloys and additively manufactured parts, commonly referred to as 3D printing, according to Paul Gradl, the project\u2019s co-principal investigator at NASA Marshall.<\/p>\n \u201cAcross NASA\u2019s storied legacy of vehicle and hardware design, testing, and integration, our underlying strength is in our application of extremely durable and severe environment materials and innovative manufacturing for component design,\u201d said Gradl. \u201cWe strive to fully understand the microstructure and properties of every material and how they will ultimately be used in components before we make them available to industry for flight applications.\u201d<\/p>\n The same principle applies to additive manufacturing, the meticulous process of building components and hardware one layer of material at a time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe RAMPT project\u2019s goal is to support commercial, technical readiness, enabling our industry partners to meet the challenges inherent in building new generations of safer, more cost-effective deep space exploration propulsion systems,\u201d said John Fikes, RAMPT project manager.<\/p>\n Since its inception, RAMPT has conducted 500 test-firings of 3D-printed injectors, nozzles, and chamber hardware totaling more than 16,000 seconds, using newly developed extreme-environment alloys, large-scale additive manufacturing processes, and advanced composite technology. The project has also started developing a full-scale version for the workhorse RS-25 engine \u2013 which experts say could reduce its costs by up to 70% and cut manufacturing time in half.<\/p>\n As printed structures are getting bigger and more complex, a major area of interest is the additive manufacturing print scale. A decade ago, most 3D-printed parts were no bigger than a shoebox. Today, additive manufacturing researchers are helping the industry produce lighter, more robust, intricately designed rocket engine components 10-feet tall and eight-feet in diameter.<\/p>\n \u201cNASA, through public-private partnerships, is making these breakthroughs accessible to the commercial space industry to help them rapidly advance new flight technologies of their own,\u201d Gradl said. \u201cWe\u2019re solving technical challenges, creating new supply chains for parts and materials, and increasing the industry\u2019s capacity to rapidly deliver reliable hardware that draws a busy commercial space infrastructure ever closer.\u201d<\/p>\n The RAMPT project does not just develop the end technology but the means to fully understand that technology, whatever the application. That means advancing cutting-edge simulation tools that can identify the viability of new alloys and composites at the microstructural level \u2013 assessing how they handle the fiery rigors of liftoff, the punishing cold of space, and the dynamic stresses associated with liftoffs, landings, and the long transits between.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s strategy to encourage commercial and academic buy-in is to offer public-private partnership opportunities, wherein industry and academia contribute as much as 25% of project development costs, allowing them to reap the benefits.<\/p>\n For example, NASA successfully delivered a refined version of an alloy, known as GRCop42<\/a>, created at NASA Glenn nearly 40 years ago which helped commercial launch provider, Relativity Space, launch the first fully 3D-printed rocket<\/a> in March 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cOur primary goal with these higher-performance alloys is to prove them in a rocket engine test-fire environment and then hand them off to enable commercial providers to build hardware, fly launch vehicles, and foster a thriving space infrastructure with real scientific, social, and economic rewards,\u201d Gradl said.<\/p>\n A key benefit of additive manufacturing hardware development is radically reducing the \u201cdesign-fail-fix\u201d cycle \u2013 when engineers develop new hardware, ground-test it to failure to determine the hardware\u2019s design limits under all possible conditions and then tweak accordingly. That capability is increasingly important with the creation of new alloys and designs, new processing techniques, and the introduction of composite overwraps<\/a> and other innovations.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/figure><\/figure><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n