NASA's Rocket Engine made with a 3D printer!

[Fr8monkey]

Engineers at NASA found out in the test video above, when they assembled these 3D-printed rocket engine injectors, and put them up against a temperature of over 6,000º F and 20,000 pounds of thrust.

Link

[vger]

@_@

Whoa....

That must be SOME printer then, to manufacture beyond the melting point.

[Scotius]

Awesome Future is happening now.

[Sky_walker]

Misleading title.

It's just the injectors that are 3D printed. Nothing more.

[Tommygun]

Well even if it's just injectors, what really matters, is that humanity is at least one step closer to being able to print Ferrari knock offs in our garages.

[Sky_walker]

In China - perhaps.

In US - won't happen. Copyright lawyers would sue you to death.

[Seret]

3D printing is cool, it's at least as important (and quite similar to) the development of the CNC machine. But don't get sucked in by the hype, journalists generally have no clue what they're taking about.

[Nuke]

yay! direct metal laser sintering! these machines have actually been around for quite some time. problem is the part is pretty much just one big weld, and so your part is not as strong as it can be if it were machined from a block of <insert metal or alloy here>. there are parts you cant mill though, such as anything with internal voids. so the technology does have its purposes.

[Seret]

Surface finish is no better than a casting in many cases, too. Additive manufacturing does solve some problems, but it can't (or rather shouldn't!) be used to make anything you can think of.

[sgt_flyer]

Well, if you want a 3d printed rocket engine, i think spaceX superdracos would be even closer to the title (they 3d printed at least the whole combustion chamber of the superdraco...

Edited August 30, 2014 by sgt_flyer

[sojourner]

Yep, SpaceX: been there, done that.

[vger]

In China - perhaps.

In US - won't happen. Copyright lawyers would sue you to death.

Transformative art.

What we really need is the ability to design our own cars in the first place. The nearly infinite number of safety regulations makes it impossible to design a street-worthy car without an army of hybrid lawyer/engineers.

[Tommygun]

Transformative art.

What we really need is the ability to design our own cars in the first place. The nearly infinite number of safety regulations makes it impossible to design a street-worthy car without an army of hybrid lawyer/engineers.

Maybe there could be a few standardized frames and under body styles that meets all the requirements and then people could add a decorative outer shell.

[Camacha]

yay! direct metal laser sintering! these machines have actually been around for quite some time. problem is the part is pretty much just one big weld, and so your part is not as strong as it can be if it were machined from a block of <insert metal or alloy here>. there are parts you cant mill though, such as anything with internal voids. so the technology does have its purposes.

Do you mean laser melting? That is quite an essential difference. With that technology you can get parts made of engineering grade titanium, steel and an assortment of other metals directly from the printer. The metal can be hardened if needed, but is typically flexible (for as far it is ever really flexible). A big massive step forward from sintered parts, which are inherently brittle and need to be infused with other metals to get anything that has any mechanical value.

It is not a silver bullet technology, but no technology ever is. It does, however, make very complex and efficient parts possible that were just not feasible before. Combined with advanced computer analysis and design it can really help maximize efficiency without all the guesswork and excessive testing that was needed before.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Camacha

[Nuke]

no i mean what i mean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_metal_laser_sintering

though the article does mention selective laser melting, which i guess is what you are thinking.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Nuke

[Idobox]

Electron gun melting is also a thing.

The point is, for high melting temperature materials, casting is often not an option, and milling/machining might be impossible depending on the shape.

It will never have the material properties of cast metal, but there's a niche for these applications.

For the bulk of production, machining and casting (possibly using a 3D printed mould) will remain the main methods.

On a side note, I've read about electroforming with titanium, aluminium, and other metals using non aqueous solutions, and although its high cost and slow speed makes it fit only for niche applications, it's an amazing technology.

[Camacha]

no i mean what i mean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_metal_laser_sintering

Yes, that was what I was talking about. As stated before, sintering produces less ideal parts. Of course it somewhat depends on your plans with them, but I am assuming typical engineering tasks.

though the article does mention selective laser melting, which i guess is what you are thinking.

Whatever name you choose to attach to it, Renishaw calls it laser melting.

[Camacha]

It will never have the material properties of cast metal, but there's a niche for these applications.

It actually does. I have specifically asked about this and was told by the manufacturer of these machines that the parts are, for all intents and purposes, fully capable engineering grade parts. They are somewhat soft when coming from the printer, but any bog standard hardening can change that, so you can apply whatever treatment you desire and need. This allows for a very wide range of applications.

That is what is so exiting about laser melting. Instead of inferior parts that look the business, but only have part of the strength, you can actually produce high quality parts with the technology.

For the bulk of production, machining and casting (possibly using a 3D printed mould) will remain the main methods.

As with any technology, it is a tool and not an end solution. Milling, casting, forging and now 3D printing all have a role to play and limits of what can be done. 3D printing is suffering from the typical adoption cycle issues, where unrealistic promises are made and expectations cannot be met. We are somewhere on the top half of the peak now, though on which side is not totally clear. I would say slightly in front of the top.

[Idobox]

It actually does. I have specifically asked about this and was told by the manufacturer of these machines that the parts are, for all intents and purposes, fully capable engineering grade parts. They are somewhat soft when coming from the printer, but any bog standard hardening can change that, so you can apply whatever treatment you desire and need. This allows for a very wide range of applications.

That is what is so exiting about laser melting. Instead of inferior parts that look the business, but only have part of the strength, you can actually produce high quality parts with the technology.

As with any technology, it is a tool and not an end solution. Milling, casting, forging and now 3D printing all have a role to play and limits of what can be done. 3D printing is suffering from the typical adoption cycle issues, where unrealistic promises are made and expectations cannot be met. We are somewhere on the top half of the peak now, though on which side is not totally clear. I would say slightly in front of the top.

Engineering grade doesn't made the same properties as cast metal. You get localized heating and fast cooling, which leads to different crystalline structures and grains with different size and junctions. That's not always a bad thing, since you might prefer that for some applications, but you will never be able to print a Prince Rupert's drop. On the plus side, there are things you can do only with additive fabrication, like microstructures of different materials (think Damas steel, but with structures more complex than stacked layers).

The main advantage of additive manufacturing is that it allows shapes impossible to obtain with other techniques, and has no tooling costs associated, which makes it the perfect tool for complex shapes and small series (prototyping and mould fabrication included). People in the industry are aware of it, people with a little bit of experience with DIY projects know it.

That being said,there are a lot of situation where additive fabrication, although technically inferior, will be preferred, because it saves on stock. The US navy is studying the possibility to build rather than carry spare parts around, and I can easily imagine workshops, locksmiths and print shops (the kind that does t shirts, mugs and banners) investing in those quite quickly.

[Camacha]

which makes it the perfect tool for complex shapes and small series (prototyping and mould fabrication included).

I see a big future printing in structures that are impossible build otherwise which add a lot of sophistication and efficiency. Examples are combustion chamber(s/ parts) and other parts where flow and contact area are important. Combined with modern analysis tools you can really fine tune your machines beyond anything traditional engineering could ever hope to achieve.

The properties - and not rarely problems - you mention are indeed factors, but they are using several and often quite nifty methods of mitigating or eliminating those issues. I was really impressed by some of the stuff they are pulling off, and I know for a fact they are not telling me a fair amount of important bits 3D printing is not going to make the current common technologies obsolete, but it is quite a useful tool to have in the toolbox.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Camacha

[Camacha]

Today I ran into this related story. NASA is going to ship its first printer up top pretty soon. It is an FDM type printer which prints in ABS. The build platform seems slightly larger than common Reprap and associated designs. Of course, the whole thing is enclosed to prevent fumes from stinking up the ISS, as ABS produces some nasty fumes while printing.

I actually think a lot of Earth FDM printers should and would be space capable without much modification or any modification at all. If you pick the right material the emissions are no issues and there are few parts to wander off.

3D printing is awesome. We can use it in medicine; NASA wants to use it to build structures in orbit and on the moon. We are working on being able to print houses and even draw in 3D, not to mention printing invisibility cloaks. The next leap in 3D printing technology is set to take place later this month as the worlds first space-capable 3D printer is put into orbit.

Source.