Rocket engine injector via additive manufacturing

摘要

NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne, of West Palm Beach, Florida, recently finished testing a rocket engine injector made by additive manufacturing. A series of firings of a liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen rocket injector assembly demonstrated the ability to design, manufacture and test a highly critical component using selective laser melting manufacturing technology to produce three-dimensional structures. This type of injector would take more than a year to make with traditional processes, but it can be produced in less than four months with these new processes - with a 70% reduction in cost. Tyler Hickman, who led the testing, said: "Rocket engine components are complex machined pieces that require significant labour and time to produce, and the injector is one of the most expensive components of an engine."