NASA develops new aerospace grade 3D printed copper alloy powder

NASA develops new aerospace grade 3D printed copper alloy powder
Researchers at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) have developed a new 3D printed copper alloy material and have fabricated a rocket propulsion component through the material and selected laser-fused 3D printing equipment.

The new material is GROCP-42, a high-strength, high-conductivity copper-based alloy created by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) team in Ohio. .

Researchers at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) have developed a new 3D printed copper alloy material and have fabricated a rocket propulsion component through the material and selected laser-fused 3D printing equipment.

High thermal conductivity - creep and high temperature strength

GRCop-42 copper alloy powders can be used to produce nearly completely dense 3D printed parts such as rocket combustor liners and fuel injector panels.

GRCop-42 3D printed copper alloy powder also has a "predecessor" - GRCop-84. According to market observations of 3D Science Valley, NASA began developing this GRCop-84 3D printed copper alloy powder for the manufacture of rocket combustion chambers in 2014.

Following the NASA's heat test of 3D printed GRCop-84 components at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 2016 and 2017, the team began developing the GRCop-42. NASA hopes to have similar strength to GROCP-84 through this material, but with a higher thermal conductivity. NASA researchers say that the manufacture of engine combustor components made from additive materials made from this material will "beyond the previous generation of products manufactured in the traditional way."

Throughout 2018, the NASA team tested the GROCp-42 metal powder and demonstrated its machinability through the selection of laser-melted 3D printing technology. This type of additive manufacturing equipment was previously used to make GROCp-84 copper alloy powder materials.

The NASA research team used the Concept Laser M2 metal additive manufacturing system to create 25 small components with a print layer thickness of 50% (0.045 mm) when the GRCop-84 material was previously manufactured.

The researchers observed that components printed with GRCop-42 material 3D cooled faster. NASA researchers post-treated with a hot isostatic press (HIP) to reduce metal porosity and then sent the assembly to the Glenn Research Center for additional post-treatment and room temperature tensile tests.

The NASA test found that 3D printed metal parts made of GRCop-42 exhibit high thermal conductivity, excellent creep (deformation) and high temperature strength.

The NASA team is expected to test the parameter set of the GROCop-42 copper alloy powder by building larger 3D printing components.

3D Science Valley - Review

Copper is a material with excellent thermal conductivity and reflectivity. This property also makes the selection laser melting technology challenging for the manufacture of copper alloy parts. The absorption rate of copper metal in the process of laser melting is low, and it is difficult for the laser to continuously melt the copper metal powder, resulting in low forming efficiency and difficult to control metallurgical quality.

According to market observations of 3D Science Valley, several rocket manufacturers are developing copper alloy 3D printing processes and using this technology to manufacture functional integrated rocket engine components.

Aerojet Rocketdyne's breakthrough in the field of rocket copper alloy thrust chamber 3D printing has opened up possibilities for the new generation of RL10 engines. The 3D printed copper alloy thrust chamber components will replace the previous RL10C-1 thrust chamber components. The replaced thrust chamber components are manufactured by conventional processes and are welded from multiple stainless steel parts, while the 3D printed copper alloy thrust chamber components are constructed of two copper alloy parts.

Compared to traditional manufacturing processes, the selective laser-melting 3D printing technology brings a higher degree of freedom to the design of the thrust chamber, allowing designers to experiment with advanced structures with higher thermal conductivity. The enhanced thermal conductivity makes the rocket engine design more compact and lightweight, which is what rocket launch technology requires.

The aerospace start-up company Launcher, which is engaged in the manufacture and launch of small rockets, also tested copper alloy rocket engine components. Launcher has been developing the proof-of-concept engine E-1 since last year, a 3D printed copper alloy (Cucrzr) engine unit that incorporates a complex cooling channel that will improve engine cooling efficiency.

NASA made progress in 3D printing of copper alloy parts in 2015. The manufacturing technology is also selected laser-melting 3D printing, and the printing material is GRCo-84 copper alloy. NASA's 3D printed parts made with this technology are lining the rocket's combustion chamber. The unit is divided into 8, 255 layers for layer-by-layer printing with print times of 10 days and 18 hours.

With more than 200 complex passages between the inner and outer walls of this copper alloy combustor component, the manufacture of these tiny internal passages with complex geometries is a challenge even for additive manufacturing techniques. After the parts were printed, NASA researchers used electron beam free manufacturing equipment to coat them with a nickel-containing superalloy. The ultimate goal of NASA is to increase the manufacturing speed of rocket engine components by at least 50%.

According to the market research of 3D Science Valley, domestic metal 3D printing company Platinum has made progress in the field of copper metal laser forming, and developed a 3D printing process for refractory metals and high thermal conductivity and high reflection metals, realizing complex flow paths. The copper material manufacturing process successfully produced a 3D printed copper alloy tail nozzle.