3D printing technology for some space stuff

[bearnard97]

I`ve recently found an interesting article about 3D printer which is used in aerospace area. Have you heard anything about that? This machine allows printing multi-composite parts simultaneously from several materials, which is infeasible in other types of aerospace 3d printing.

 

[Skycop]

I`ve recently found an interesting article about 3D printer which is used in aerospace area. Have you heard anything about that? This machine allows printing multi-composite parts simultaneously from several materials, which is infeasible in other types of aerospace 3d printing.

Wouldn't Electric Rocket doing some of that?

 

[blackstar]

A number of years ago I worked on this report, looking at 3D printing in space. At the time, a company named Made-In-Space was testing a 3D printer on the ISS for making replacement parts. There were other companies that were proposing other types of in-space 3D printing technologies, including for making space structures (like printing a support structure that you could attach things to).

You can download it for free from here:

3D Printing in Space | The National Academies Press

Read online, download a free PDF, or order a copy in print or as an eBook.

www.nap.edu

Since that time I've heard less about progress in this area. I think that 3D printing in space has stagnated a bit. I don't know why, but with all new technologies it is easier to promise things than to actually build and deliver.

The use of 3D printing technology for aerospace manufacture has also made some important strides, but it too is limited. Compared to some other manufacturing techniques it is rather slow. So it can work for low-unit production but is less useful for higher-unit production.

 

[riggerrob]

3D printing in space makes the most sense when reproducing small parts for repairs. It would be hopelessly volume-intensive to stock thousands of small parts for all the different systems onboard a space-station or space-craft. Also consider that system may be a few decades old and the original factory shut years ago. Finally, consider how many thousands of dollars per kilogram to launch spare parts into orbit ... even worse if the space-craft is a few million kilometers from earth.
I use my Ender 3 to make replacement parts for drawer slides, antique cars, antique guitars, etc.
Current belt-printers can make structural members of infinite length. Next year belt printers will be able to make curved structural members hundreds of meters long.

 

[blackstar]

3D printing in space makes the most sense when reproducing small parts for repairs. It would be hopelessly volume-intensive to stock thousands of small parts for all the different systems onboard a space-station or space-craft. Also consider that system may be a few decades old and the original factory shut years ago. Finally, consider how many thousands of dollars per kilogram to launch spare parts into orbit ... even worse if the space-craft is a few million kilometers from earth.

Yes, that was our conclusion. We told them to do an end to end study of the requirements. In other words, what could a 3D printer produce on the station, could that replace certain parts and even tools that were needed, and would there be any mass savings? There are things like plastic electrical connectors and even plastic tools that a printer could produce, and it might make more sense to simply make them in orbit than carry them up. You might be able to save not only the mass of the part or tool, but the mass of the packing material that protected it. And it was also possible that packing material could be used as feed stock for the printer.

But this is a complicated question, because you also have to take into account that the printer might break. What if it breaks down and you cannot produce the needed parts? That might not be a problem in Earth orbit, but you could not rely on it for Mars.

Now we were not telling them stuff they did not already know. The Made-In-Space people were pretty smart. I was impressed with them because although they were a startup company, they had a good understanding of the requirements and the limitations, and they were pushing their technology farther.

 

[blackstar]

Current belt-printers can make structural members of infinite length. Next year belt printers will be able to make curved structural members hundreds of meters long.

There was another company--I forget their name--but they were working on a 3D printer for assembling long structures like trusses in space. I thought that was a cool idea, but I suspected that making it a reality would be very difficult, and that it was not clear that it had much value. How much requirement is there for large structural pieces, and is the demand great enough to justify a new technology or simply carrying the stuff to orbit?

That ties into a big issue with 3D printing of all kinds--how do you keep quality control? How do you inspect the parts that you have made to make sure they meet spec? And how do you achieve a good enough build quality to be worth it? On the ground you can 3D print something and then do an inspection. You can run it through an X-ray machine or do ultrasound or other methods to make sure that there are no voids or weak points. How do you do that in space without bringing all kinds of expensive equipment with you? And what if you learn that there is a high failure rate? On the ground you may be able to accept that five or ten percent of your parts fail and have to be discarded. In space, you could end up wasting a lot of material and time that way. So there's a real tough aspect to the engineering of ensuring that what you manufacture is going to be perfect from the start.

Manufacturing structural parts like trusses in space is an idea that has been around since the 1970s. Grumman built its Beam Builder in the late 1970s to test that technology. That was a machine that took rolls of aluminum and formed them into beams and welded cross members to those beams. It was a neat concept, but it apparently suffered problems. I have long wanted to write an article about that technology. I have some great photos of it. But I don't have good information about the problems with it.

 

[GTX]

Somewhat related to this thread (although the printing is done terrestrially...):

Fully 3D Printed Satellite Constellation to be launched by Fleet Space | Spaceaustralia

South Australian company, Fleet Space Technologies has announced plans to launch a constellation of it’s Alpha Satellites. These satellites are expected to become the world's first completely 3D printed satellites and will provide increased capability over the company's current Centauri satellites.

spaceaustralia.com

Fleet Space to Build Constellation of 3D Printed Satellites - 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

Fleet Space Technologies, the Australian space startup that launched the country’s first four commercial nanosatellites, announced its future strategy led by the development of a new constellation of 3D printed...

3dprint.com

Fleet Space to launch constellation of 3D printed satellites - Australian Defence Magazine

Fleet Space Technologies has announced the development of a new constellation of 3D-printed small satellites named Alpha, with the first satellites ready for launch in 12 months.

www.australiandefence.com.au

 

[blackstar]

Somewhat related to this thread (although the printing is done terrestrially...):

For various definitions of "fully 3D printed."

They're not 3D printing the electronics. I suspect that this refers to the structures.

 

[Richard N]

Relativity Space (https://www.relativityspace.com/) has developed a 3D printer that can print a complete rocket with engines requiring no tooling and minimizing the number of parts. When you get this printer to another planet and find sufficient raw materials, you can manufacture rockets wherever you go. I'm sure they have already thought about operating their printer in space.

View: https://youtu.be/kz165f1g8-E

 

[blackstar]

When you get this printer to another planet and find sufficient raw materials, you can manufacture rockets wherever you go.

The material used in 3D printers, especially metal printers, is highly refined. Raw materials are not used in 3D printers.
This is a common issue when looking at trying to do manufacturing on planetary bodies--you have to look at the materials that go into the build and how much they need to be processed before they're ready. Often there are a lot of steps and equipment involved in processing the original materials, and a lot of energy required.

 

[riggerrob]

Somewhat related to this thread (although the printing is done terrestrially...):

For various definitions of "fully 3D printed."

They're not 3D printing the electronics. I suspect that this refers to the structures.

They are already experimenting with 3D printers to make circuit boards. Printing a metal circuit on a silicone board is relatively easy, you just need a tiny nozzle to make tiny circuits.
Printing electric motors and solenoids is also relatively easy.
The next challenge is printing diodes with precise alloys.

 

[riggerrob]

As for feedstock .... How many hundreds of tons of aluminum, titanium, steel, copper, etc. are already orbiting the earth in the form of abandoned satellites? I can already picture a near-future sci-fi story about am orbital salvage crew ...

 

[Richard N]

Gathering feedstocks by cleaning up the orbital junkyard is a great idea that solves two problems simultaneously.

While it is true that materials found on planetary destinations will require refining, the amount of effort to refine local materials will be tiny compared to the huge resources it would take to bring them from home. A planet full of raw materials that need refining will provide a far larger resource than any amount of ready to use materials brought from home.

 

[blackstar]

As for feedstock .... How many hundreds of tons of aluminum, titanium, steel, copper, etc. are already orbiting the earth in the form of abandoned satellites? I can already picture a near-future sci-fi story about am orbital salvage crew ...

Except it's not all the same stuff. Different alloys, different materials, etc. Plus hydrazine, rubber, other contaminants you're going to have to deal with.

There's the stuff you can do in sci-fi novels, and then there's the actual engineering challenges to making something work.

 

[blackstar]

While it is true that materials found on planetary destinations will require refining, the amount of effort to refine local materials will be tiny compared to the huge resources it would take to bring them from home. A planet full of raw materials that need refining will provide a far larger resource than any amount of ready to use materials brought from home.

Except that you need lots and lots of infrastructure to do the refining. Where does that come from? Do you just build the nuclear reactor and the smelting plant and the distillation facility when you get there? How do you process the raw materials to build all of that infrastructure?

 

[Richard N]

One way or another, someone will figure out how to get it done. They have to if they expect to be able to live on another world.

Imagine how much longer it would have taken the Europeans to establish in the new world if they had to depend solely on what they could carry on their ships instead of expecting to forage locally.

 

[riggerrob]

Gathering feedstocks by cleaning up the orbital junkyard is a great idea that solves two problems simultaneously.

While it is true that materials found on planetary destinations will require refining, the amount of effort to refine local materials will be tiny compared to the huge resources it would take to bring them from home. A planet full of raw materials that need refining will provide a far larger resource than any amount of ready to use materials brought from home.

What if orbital salvagers collect trash in huge nets, then drag nets to a central orbital refinery? The junk yard would be a series of nets roped together and flying in loose formation around a smelter.

There satellite trash is broken down and sorted by material type before being melted down. Yes, you will get some awkward alloys, but in many cases, you can simply add an extra layer to a 3D printed replacement part to compensate for different strengths, harnesses, etc.
As much as possible, refined salvage would be extruded as standard sizes of bar stock, tubing, etc. The salvage yard would be able to 3D print their own custom-sized extrusion dies and other tools.

If you have to haul specialized alloy bearings up from earth, you could precisely align them in space, then print around them.

One of the bigger challenges would be collecting all the dust and shavings created when cutting and drilling old satellites during the dismantling process. Perhaps the cutting needs to be done inside a fine mesh net. Eventually you melt down the net to collect metal dust. Twould be truly weird if satellites had to change course/orbit to avoid clouds of tiny metal dust orbiting the earth!!!!!