News Excerpt:
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a major milestone with the successful hot testing of a liquid rocket engine manufactured through Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology — commonly known as 3D printing for a duration of 665 seconds. The engine used is the PS4 engine of PSLV upper stage.
Why did ISRO use 3D printing to build the PS4 engine?
- The engine, PS4, which is used as the engine for the fourth stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), was redesigned by ISRO for production using 3D printing.
- The Laser Powder Bed Fusion technique employed helped ISRO bring down the number of parts in the engine from 14 to a single piece.
- Benefit: The space agency was able to eliminate 19 weld joints and saved 97% of the raw material. It also reduced the overall production time by 60%.
- Other examples:
- NASA, in collaboration with various research institutions, has developed materials that can withstand extreme temperature fluctuations, radiations, and micrometeoroids.
- The first metal 3D printer for space, developed by Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA), will soon be tested aboard the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS).
What is Additive Manufacturing (AM)?
- 3D printing or AM is a process that uses computer-created design to make three-dimensional objects layer by layer.
- It is an additive process, in which layers of a material like plastic, composites or bio-materials which are built up to construct objects that range in shape, size, rigidity, and colour.
- To carry out 3D printing, one needs a personal computer connected to a 3D printer.
- They must design a 3D model of the required object on computer-aid design (CAD) software and press ‘print’.
- The 3D printer does the rest of the job by constructing the desired object by using a layering method. It essentially adds hundreds or thousands of 2D prints on top of one another to make a three-dimensional object.
- Notably, these machines are capable of printing anything from ordinary objects like a ball or a spoon to complex moving parts like hinges and wheels.
Opportunities:
- Since AM can be set up easily without any tools and different materials can be used for production, AM can adapt to any culture or location to fit multiple approaches of circular economy.
- Additive manufacturing has the potential to positively affect human spaceflight operations by enabling the in-orbit manufacture of replacement parts and tools, which could reduce existing logistics requirements for the International Space Station and future long-duration human space missions.
Challenges:
- Many AM technologies are limited by the materials they can use. Not all metals and plastics can be temperature-controlled enough for the conditions that AM requires.
- Energy consumption of AM is still high. Technological development is lacking in integrating renewable energy sources to power AM.
- Intellectual property (IP) rights may hinder this process since organizations need to share their product design with a third party to produce a specific part/item.
