Advanced Near-Net Shape Metallurgy of Liquid Rocket Engine Components

ABSTRACT: The overall goal of the Phase II effort is to take CalRAM"s Additive Manufacturing process, based on Electron Beam Melting (EBM) technology, to the point where it is ready to fabricate titanium hardware for Liquid Rocket Engine(LRE)production. Phase II will focus on demonstrating the EBM process to produce and evaluate LRE components. In addition to the work performed on titanium alloy components, effort to develop a nickel-base alloy for use in LRE will be performed. The final Phase II activity will be focused on scaling up the process to produce larger LRE components. BENEFIT: The benefits of employing EBM fabrication for LRE components are (1) the parts can be made faster because the process is tool-less; (2) for quantities typically used in LRE manufacture, the parts are less expensive; (3) the mechanical behavior of EBM fabricated titanium meets or exceeds that fabricated by traditional manufacturing methods; (4) Since the process is tool-less, as design concepts are tested and performance validated, it is possible to immediately implement design changes. This flexibility allows for greatly reducing the development time. Development of EBM technology for DOD LRE is directly applicable to LRE used to launch commercial payloads.