High-Throughput Manufacturing of Rhenium SDACS Components

"A large number of the rhenium components used in the MDA/Navy solid divert and attitude control system (SDACS) kinetic kill vehicle are fabricated by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). While CVD offers the most cost-effective manufacturing approach forthese components, further improvements in production throughput and cost are desired. In this project, Ultramet will focus on the production of main thruster assembly (MTA) thrusters and increase the throughput of both the rhenium deposition process andthe subsequent machining process by a minimum of 500%. Improvements in the CVD processing will be achieved by using spin-on technology and applying proven CVD techniques, which were developed in other work and are currently in use at Ultramet. Increasesin the machining rate and throughput will also be based on technologies that have been demonstrated in other production projects. The net result will be a dramatic increase in process throughput and production capacity, a decrease in the number of CVDreactors required for a given job, and a commensurate decrease in the unit production cost. While the market for SDACS hardware is strictly limited to DoD applications, there are other applications where the technologies developed under this project can beapplied, including Ultramet's 100-lbf production iridium/rhenium (Ir/Re) liquid apogee engines (LAEs), as well as the smaller chambers being manufactured under various related R&D projects.