Materials and Process for Additive Manufacturing of Large Diameter Hall-Effect Thrusters.

Existingnbsp;magnetic materials and manufacturing methods are inadequate for producing large-diameter Hall-effect thrusters (HETs) with adequate mechanical strength while achieving the desired magnetic properties. Cobalt-ironnbsp;soft ferromagnetic alloys are desirable for soft magnetic applications, including Hall-effect thrusters, due to their unparalleled magnetic saturation, elevated permeability, high curie temperature, and extreme strength.nbsp;Unfortunately, these alloys suffer from manufacturability problems due to low ductility and an inability to produce such alloys in large form factors. While Co-Fe soft magnetic products can be readily produced in sheets, production of large billets results in weak, brittle, and inhomogeneous materialsElementumnbsp;3D is proposing to develop an additive manufacturing (AM) process and material feedstock, suitable for fabrication of large-diameter HETs, fromnbsp;cobalt-iron based soft magnetic material. The ability for AM to produce these large structures directly from powder feedstock would overcome the unavailability of sufficiently sized iron-cobalt billets. Other AM advantages for production of Co-Fe soft magnetic products include, a favorable fly-to-buy ratio, improved design freedom, and an increase in thrust-to-weight ratio.Thenbsp;principlenbsp;objective of the Phase I effortnbsp;is tonbsp;research,nbsp;develop,nbsp;and demonstratenbsp;anbsp;soft magneticnbsp;feedstock material and additive production processnbsp;that is suitable fornbsp;production of large-diameternbsp;Hall-effect thrusters,nbsp;meeting the magnetic and mechanical performance targets.nbsp;