NASA and 3DCeram Associate to Assess 3D Printed Ceramics in House

3DCeram Sinto has been awarded a contract by NASA Marshall House Flight Middle for its C1000 FLEXMATIC Ceramic 3D printer. 

3DCeram has additionally grow to be an official accomplice of NASA, the US Nationwide Aeronautics and House Administration, which awarded the contract in collaboration with Jacobs House Exploration Group. 

The 3D printer shall be used to manufacture ceramic materials samples which shall be examined in area and different excessive environments. 

The primary check components are set to be 3D printed instantly as a part of NASA’s Supplies Worldwide House Station Experiment (MISSE) program. By way of this challenge, materials samples shall be connected to the outside of the Worldwide House Station (ISS) to evaluate their efficiency and sturdiness in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

3DCeram will 3D print 20 pattern components at its Grand Ledge facility which shall be launched to the ISS subsequent yr.   

This can type a part of the analysis course of for ceramics that might in the future be used on the outer floor of spacecraft. As soon as the supplies have been characterised in LEO, the corporate believes flight-worthy scorching buildings and warmth shields could possibly be produced utilizing the C1000 FLEXMATIC.     

NASA adopts 3DCeram’s ceramic 3D printing expertise 

Launched in 2022, the C1000 FLEXMATIC is a stereolithography (SLA) ceramic 3D printer designed to fulfill the economic challenges of large-scale manufacturing.   

The system is optimized for serial manufacturing purposes and has been designed for simple integration right into a semi-automated manufacturing workflow. That is due to its detachable tank, which permits for in-line processing of 3D printed components.      

That includes a construct quantity of 320 x 320 x 200 mm, the ceramic 3D printer will allow NASA to 3D print each large-scale, absolutely dense components and high-volume manufacturing runs of smaller parts. 

In an interview at Formnext 2023, Maxence Bourjol, 3DCerams’s Gross sales Supervisor, said that “you possibly can simply have lots of of [small] components on the printing platform” in a single manufacturing run.    

By way of the MISSE program, 3DCeram’s 3D printed samples shall be connected to the outside of the ISS for six months. This can assist NASA achieve a deeper understanding of how ceramic supplies face up to area situations.

Particularly, the testing will show the consequences of harsh in-space environmental exposures, equivalent to zero gravity and unabated radiation from the solar.  

3D printing space-ready components 

NASA is a long-time adopter of additive manufacturing expertise, closely using 3D printing to supply space-ready components. Final yr, the group efficiently examined a 3D printed rocket engine nozzle as a part of its Reactive Additive Manufacturing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or RAMFIRE, challenge.   

NASA engineers from the Marshall House Flight Middle developed the 3D printed RAMFIRE nozzle in collaboration with materials developer Elementum 3D. The companions created a weldable aluminum materials with heat-resistant properties required to be used on rocket engines. In response to NASA, the brand new nozzle is lighter than conventionally manufactured counterparts, facilitating deep area missions that carry heavier payloads.    

Elsewhere, French steel 3D printing specialist AddUp collaborated with  Airbus Defence & House to develop a steel 3D printer for area purposes. Produced beneath a European House Company (ESA) contract, will probably be used to guage additive manufacturing capabilities and efficiency in sustained microgravity situations. 

The 3D printer was launched to the ISS by NASA Mission NG-20 on January 30, 2024, and is present process testing aboard the Station’s Columbus module.       

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Featured picture reveals a C1000 FLEXMATIC 3D printer. Picture by way of 3DCeram.