NASA uses 3D printing to create rocket engine alloys

In another huge step towards fully 3D-printed rocket engines, NASA has successfully tested an igniter prototype made from two metal alloys. Engineers at NASA have been hard at work to produce this component using a new method of laser printing. As a result, this could double the speed of production whilst cutting costs by a third.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard about 3D-printed rocket engines. It is however the first time that more than one metal has been used to create an engine, using conventional printing methods. To achieve this feat, engineers at Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center collaborated to produce an igniter. This igniter is key in the ignition process, allowing this metal alloy to be 3D-printed.

“It is a technological achievement to 3-D print and test rocket components made with two different alloys,” Preston Jones, Director of the Engineering Directorate, Marshall Space Flight Center.

Prior to this achievement, metals were bonded with a filler metal in between to weld them together. This is a slow and expensive process however, so the improvements afforded by 3D-printing offer huge benefits.