Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing for High Performance Combustion Chambers

The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of using ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) to dramatically reduce the cost and lead-time of fabricating rocket engine chambers, particularly high performance rocket engine chambers. Rocket engine combustion chambers require a very complex geometry, consisting of a cylinder of varying diameter, with a variable wall thickness, and integral complex coolant passages in the wall These chambers must be capable of withstanding high internal chamber pressure and high pressure fluid within the passages without suffering mechanical failure from hoop stress or coolant passage blowout, while also undergoing intense thermal stress from the extreme heat transfer levels. Levels of fit and finish are very high to minimize turbulence both in the combustion chamber and the coolant passages. The inner walls of the chamber must be extremely thin, and are held to very exacting tolerances, yet are usually machined into the outside of a chamber. The large number of discrete operations, high tolerances, multiple materials, and most often distinct vendors for each step lead to very high cost and long manufacturing lead times for these components. If a bimetallic UAM printing process can be demonstrated successfully, the cost of combustion chamber fabrication could drop by 10-100X and significant time and cost can be saved from engine development programs. This would be in line with the goals of NASA's Low Cost Upper Stage Propulsion initiative, which is aimed at reducing costs by 50%. A significant win in chamber manufacturing costs will dramatically advance the program goals. TGV will build upon this technology to produce the system capability to launch 100 Lbs. to LEO for $1 Million.

NASA has been looking at a series of small science and earth science missions using NanoSats and the potential for lunar missions using CubeSats. The Early Explorer, Vanguard and pioneer spacecraft were all built and flown under the 100 Lb. threshold. NASA STMD has been funding small and NanoSat missions. Small satellites, including CubeSats, are playing an increasingly larger role in exploration, technology demonstration, scientific research and educational investigations at NASA. These miniature satellites provide a low-cost platform for NASA missions, including planetary space exploration; Earth observations; fundamental Earth and space science; and developing precursor science instruments like cutting-edge laser communications, satellite-to-satellite communications and autonomous movement capabilities. They also allow educators an inexpensive means to engage students in all phases of satellite development, operation and exploitation through real-world, hands-on research and development experience on NASA-funded rideshare launch opportunities.

DoD has recognized military utility to payloads at or below 700 lbs and has funded several 150 lb class payloads. DoD views applications to launch small dedicated comms, timing, comms photo recon, weather. A number of small satellite constellations for commercial applications have been proposed including OneWeb, Planetlabs, UrtheCast and technical growth will allow service to existing customers such as ORBComm, Iridium and Globalstar.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.