USING OF ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR MANUFACTURING OF THRUST CHAMBERS OF ROCKET ENGINES

Abstract

Taking into account that traditional ways of manufacturing of thrust chambers are quite complex and expensive, optimization researches of this process are the most actual in aerospace industry. In a recent years additive manufacturing such as metal 3D printing has attracted attention. This article is devoted to applying of additive technologies for manufacturing of regeneratively cooled thrust chamber of rocket engine. The reason for that interest is growing competition in providing of launch services. More and more countries appear at this market for example India, China, Japan and New Zeeland. Moreover, private companies such as Space X, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and FireFly interfere into competitive straggling. As a result, minimization of the price for 1 kg of payload becomes the most relevant. There are two the most wide spread traditional methods of thrust chambers manufacturing: brazing, which is wide spread in post-Soviet countries and electroplating, which is popular in the USA. These two methods are quite expensive because they require a lot of different equipment, electrical energy and time. Moreover, they are very difficult for implementation and needs high-qualified specialists. This is the reason why new ways of thrust chamber manufacturing are being looked for. In a recent decades additive manufacturing, which is known as a 3D printing, is being actively developed. Attractiveness of additive manufacturing is in possibility of producing details with difficult geometry just in one technological operation. This circumstance allows to speed up design and manufacturing process. Moreover it allows to make changes in the design process without necessity of making changes in the equipment. This article treats possibility to use additive manufacturing for thrust chambers of rocket engines manufacturing. Regeneratively cooled combustion chamber of rocket engine with a thrust level 350 kg have been design and manufactured. It has been fired for five times with registration of all changes in the structure of combustion chamber after each firing. After the full cycle of tests metallographic analysis of the material structure have been made.