Australian cold spray 3D printer manufacturerspee3d有announced plans to “revolutionize” the space sector with low-cost metal 3D printed rocket engines.
The company has received AUD $1.25 million from the Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) ‘Space’ Translation Stream grant, and a further AUD $312,000 from the Northern Territory Government, to carry out its latest project, SPAC3D.
Through SPAC3D, SPEE3D will seek to manufacture high-quality, inexpensive metal 3D printed rocket engines for Australia’s emerging industrial space industry using its cold spray technology.
“SPEE3D has developed a new way to manufacture rocket engines quickly with our advanced manufacturing process,” said Steven Camilleri, SPEE3D’s CTO. “The MMI grant will allow us to work with other partners in Australia to manufacture and test flight ready engines for the emerging industrial space market.”
Rising from the ground up
据报道，SPEE3D专利的冷喷雾添加剂制造技术能够比传统的金属3D打印方法快100至1,000倍的金属零件。据称，该技术也是唯一能够以比传统制造更具竞争力的竞争力来打印金属零件的过程之一。
Instead of relying on lasers or other heat-based energy sources, cold spraying leveraged kinetic energy to spray a metal powder onto a substrate via a high-velocity compressed gas stream. This gives the material enough energy to deform and bond to the solid part below, forming additional layers.
In February 2019, SPEE3D was selected by the澳大利亚皇家海军参加两年AUD 150万美元的项目至pilot trial its metal 3D printing technology with the aim of streamlining the maintenance of the Navy’s patrol vessels.
A year later, the company landed anotherAUD 150万美元的国防项目which saw 20 soldiers undergo training in the company’s cold spray technology. Once this proved successful, the soldiers attempted to utilize their newfound knowledge in athree-day field trial of SPEE3D’s WarpSPEE3D 3D printerin the harsh environments of Australia’s Northern Territories.
Able to be transported and unloaded under difficult conditions and operational in under 30 minutes, the WarpSPEE3D was found to be capable of printing large metal parts up to 40kg in weight at a speed of 100g per minute.
Following the success of the initial field trial, the澳大利亚军队carried out asecond set of field exercisesusing an upgraded version of the printer. Over two weeks, the soldiers were able to 3D print end-use components at temperatures up to 37 degrees celsius, proving the technology a reliable solution for producing military parts on-demand in the field.
该公司最近宣布已赢得ADMA基金会的土地军中小企业创新奖的机器改善军事供应链的能力with on-demand 3D printing capabilities.
Having proved its technology for defense applications on the ground, SPEE3D is now turning its attention to the stars with its new SPAC3D project.
3D printing low-cost rocket engines
spee3d有identified the billion-dollar industry of manufacturing space components as its next venture, with the sector set to experience strong growth in demand over the next few years. However, long lead times for production-ready rocket engines is still a challenge faced by organizations across the globe.
The company has already demonstrated its cold spray technology’s capabilities to produce rocket engine components. The firm’s WarpSPEE3D 3D printer produced a 17.9kg copper rocket nozzle liner in just three hours at a cost of less than $1,000. Now, with government backing for its SPAC3D project, SPEE3D will look to apply its technology to the manufacturing of high quality metal 3D printed rocket engines that remain inexpensive compared to those that are conventionally produced.
The MMI aims to help Australian manufacturers to scale up and create jobs to bolster the country’s manufacturing capabilities and provide new opportunities to access domestic and global supply chains. According to SPEE3D, the SPAC3D project will offer Australia’s burgeoning space industry the opportunity to become the world’s leading manufacturer and exporter of rocket engines.
工业，科学和技术部长克里斯蒂安·波特（Christian Porter）表示：“政府的现代制造计划是支持我们的制造商更具竞争力，有弹性并能够承担新的国内和全球市场。”“这项匹配的政府资金将有助于SPEE3D发展其业务并创造就业机会，同时也激发了对制造业的进一步投资，并巩固了澳大利亚作为创造高价值产品的国家的声誉。”
现在，SPEE3D的SPAC3D项目已经是GreenLit，该公司将开始进行热火测试，并验证其3D印刷火箭发动机对商用太空车的实用性。
北领地首席部长迈克尔·冈纳（Michael Gunner）补充说：“对于Spee3D而言，这是另一个大腿，他们从顶部逐步采用先进的制造界。”“我们很荣幸能够通过我们的本地就业基金来支持Spee3D，它们是该领土的真实证明，其像Spee3D这样的项目可以增强我们为澳大利亚的复出资本。”
3D印刷火箭发动机的进步
spee3dfaces tough competition in the race to space, however, with multiple private companies seeking to develop and launch next generation launch vehicles, satellites, and rockets of their own.
例如，英国航空公司公司Orbex最近已经委托了其主要发射车的发射车欧洲最大的工业3D打印机从AMCM到迅速的3D印刷火箭，而推进系统制造商Aerojet RocketDyne’s RL10 rocket engine successfullypassed NASA hot-fire tests in May。
Elsewhere, California-based aerospace firm火箭实验室已经公布了其下一代可重复使用的3D printed rocket, Neutron, rocket manufacturerRelativity Space有另外筹集了6.5亿美元至ramp up production of its new 3D printed Terran R rocket, and aerospace propulsion developerAgile Space Industries获得了3 d印刷服务机构tronix3d至optimize the performance of its propulsion systemsused to powerNASAandSpaceX是upcoming lunar missions.
Most recently, rocket engine manufacturerPangea航空航天and additive manufacturing engineering firmAENIUMformed an industrial partnership todevelop and industrialise 3D printed propulsion systems对于欧洲太空市场，使用NASA的GRCOP-42铜超合金。
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Featured image showsSpee3D将注意力转向3D打印火箭发动机。通过Spee3D的照片。
