Generative Design of Additively Manufactured Tanks for Small Spacecraft Propulsion Systems

Advances in additive manufacturing (AM) have allowed for the design and development of 3D printed spacecraft propulsion systems. Several cold gas propulsion systems have been successfully printed with composite materials, allowing for components such as propellant tanks, routing passages and nozzles to be printed as one unit. This approach allows the designer to make more efficient use of the allocated volume. With the recent development of liquid monopropellants for small satellites, such as AF-M315E, different printing materials are required. This is due to the compatibility with the monopropellant as well as the need to withstand the much higher pressures required for liquid propulsion systems. However, a current limitation with using additively manufactured structures as pressure vessels is their survivability under load. This can lead to overdesigned tanks which drive up mass, cost, and development time. This research proposes developing a design methodology for generating additively manufactured high-pressure tanks for spacecraft propulsion systems. The methodology will be based on Generative Design (GD) coupled with Design for Additive Manufacturing practices (DfAM). Based on a set of objectives and constraints set by the designer, GD will produce a suite of preliminary designs for the user to evaluate. Once a concept is selected, a parametric model is produced and optimized to meet the AM manufacturability requirements. Analysis and validation of this method will be done via the design of a 1U propellant tank. In-house printing capabilities will be leveraged to print prototypes and perform pressure burst testing. The key challenges that need to be addressed in this research have been identified as follows: 1) development and implementation of the multi-objective optimization algorithm for the conceptual design phase, 2) identification of the best suitable filter for selecting the final concept based on full automation vs designer involvement and 3) automation of the parametrization of the selected concept. The capability of efficiently designing AM high-pressure vessels is vital for the adaptation of the AF-M315E propellant for future missions that require increased propulsion performance. This research can be viewed as a steppingstone to 3D printed satellites with the propulsion system designed into the structure. This work will be applicable to any AM material of interest as well as other propulsion components.

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