Advanced Near-Net Shape Metallurgy of Liquid Rocket Engine Components

ABSTRACT: The designs of complex liquid rocket engine components are limited by the manufacturing processes used to build them. Traditional manufacturing processes, such as, casting or forging and machining, although capable of producing high-quality hardware, are expensive and time consuming. CalRAM, Inc. has been developing an additive manufacturing process, Electron Beam Melting (EBM) manufacturing, which can help the AFRL achieve IHPRPT"s goals. The layer-build process produces near-net shape components directly from a CAD file by melting powder with an electron beam and does NOT need tooling to manufacture"functional"hardware. The overall Phase I Objective is to demonstrate the feasibility and benefit of EBM manufacturing with respect to producibility (cost and quality), fabrication time and material properties to achieve IHPRPT goals. A shrouded titanium impeller will be EBM manufactured and spin tested to demonstrate the ability of the process to meet the IHPRPT goals. In addition, alternative materials will be explored and evaluated. BENEFIT: If the project is funded, there are four anticipated results from Phase I: 1. The successful spin test of a shrouded upper stage titanium impeller will show that EBM manufacturing can produce a complex structure capable of meeting the structural loads. In addition, the cryogenic behavior of EBM manufactured Ti will be confirmed to meet or exceed Ti-5Al-2.5Sn ELI properties. 2. Feasibility to produce EBM manufactured Alloy 625 with a uniform, dense microstructure and comparable mechanical properties to conventionally produced Alloy 625 will have been demonstrated. 3. Producibility, cost and schedule of an EBM manufactured titanium impeller that helps the AFRL meet Phase III IHPRPT goals will have been generated. 4. A path to scale up the EBM process to produce booster size components will have been laid out.