Advanced Manufacturing Techniques for Liquid Rocket Engine Components

The proposal addresses the development of a novel, efficient manufacturing technology demonstrated during Phase 1. This novel technology has clearly shown specific benefits to critically loaded components of liquid rocket engines using advanced process modeling and computer aided design. Examples of these critically loaded components that will be fabricated are static and rotating parts of turbo-machinery from high strength and environmentally compatible Ni and Fe-based superalloys as well as Ti alloys. A deliverable of Phase 2 will be engine component prototypes with acceptable properties, predictability and repeatability for Boeing-Rocketdyne. The process to manufacture fully dense, complex shaped products is based on a novel "selectively net shape" approach developed, and routinely employed by Synertech P/M utilizing advanced technologies such as Hot Isostatic Pressing of powders (HIP), Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Direct Metal Fabrication (DMF) of HIP tooling. A necessary constituent of this approach is advanced process modeling that enables significant reduction of development and manufacturing costs by as much as 30-50% due to the innovative prediction of material behavior during powder processing.