3D Printing in Space (2014) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 9-30
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, the committee explored the missions and space operating environments of the Air Force and NASA, assessing the applicability of additive manufacturing approaches, and identifying promising and potential results. It is natural for NASA and the Air Force to explore opportunities for using additive manufacturing technologies in space where additive manufacturing could offer the potential to • Reduce launch vehicle volumes as compared to an equivalent spacecraft and • Enable tailoring of launch vehicle systems that deliver materials to orbit.
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The committee may also consider the following: • The potential mission payloads and capabilities that could be expected from a space-based, additively manufactured spacecraft; • The role in potential missions for a single spacecraft system manufactured in space by additive manufacturing or for multiple spacecraft systems, including disaggregated constellations and fractionated satellites; • Concepts of operations for space-based manufacture of space hardware (including small spacecraft) using additive manufacturing, including development, test and evaluation, launch, deployment, and on-orbit command and control; • Whether it is possible to develop a high-level heuristic tool that Air Force Space Command and other government organizations could use for first-order assessments of space-based, additively manufactured small spacecraft concepts in their integrated planning and process efforts.
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. Where techniques are not yet mature or do not exist, the committee tried to identify the science and technology gaps between current additive manufacturing capabilities and the capabilities required to enable a space-based additive manufacturing concept.
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Finally, because of the Air Force's goal of seeking total system cost reduction, AFRL seeks advice on whether it may be possible to develop a means of using a build in space capability to undertake in situ satellite repair and/ or maintenance involving bringing satellites back from their operational locations to a space-based repair and maintenance facility for repairs, upgrades, refueling, etc. This concept could result in a significant impact on the annual costs of the five constellations, depending on amortization of the costs involved, to create an additive manufacturing facility in low Earth orbit as well as its annual operating expenses, taken in the context of current program expenditures.2 A RECENT HISTORY OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING Additive manufacturing -- commonly referred to as "3D printing" -- is a general term encompassing various manufacturing methodologies, using different constructive materials and additive processes, each of which has specific advantages and constraints.
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10 T.T. Wohlers, Wohlers Report 2014, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing State of the Industry, Annual Worldwide Progress Report, Wohlers Associates, Inc., Fort Collins, Colo., 2014.
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(A current perspective on the additive manufacturing industry and associated technologies can be found in the Wohlers Report 2014.14) A thorough discussion of the historical development of additive manufacturing technologies is provided by Gibson, et al.15 12 See Wohlers Associates, Inc., "Metal Additive Manufacturing Grows by Nearly 76% According to Wohlers Report 2014," media release, May 21, 2014, http://wohlersassociates.com/press64.html, and Alex Knapp, "Sales of 3D Metal Printers Grew Over 75% in 2013," Forbes.
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SOURCE: T.T. Wohlers, Wohlers Report 2014, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing State of the Industry, Annual Worldwide Progress Report, Wohlers Associates, Inc., Fort Collins, Colo., 2014.
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standards for ASTM and ISO. SOURCE: Courtesy of ASTM Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies, copyright ASTM International.
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It is not the intent of this report to provide an exhaustive list of these specific terms, although some are highlighted for reference.18 Material Extrusion In material extrusion, 3D parts are constructed layer by layer using materials extruded through a nozzle or orifice that is placed in desired regions using some form of translation mechanism. One implementation of this technology selectively deposits thermoplastic material through a heated nozzle, much like a glue gun placed on stages that move the nozzle to selectively deposit the material.
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Today, there is a paper-based technology on the market as well as one that uses thin metal tapes bonded together using a process called ultrasonic additive manufacturing. Directed-Energy Deposition In directed-energy deposition, three-dimensional shapes are constructed using lasers or electron beams directed at the build surface, with material fed into the build region to coincide with the incident energy source.
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FIGURE 1.5 Additively manufactured waveguide brackets (shown by red arrows) installed on the Jupiter Juno spacecraft during assembly.
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SOURCE: Courtesy of Aurora Flight Sciences. offering for sale four different space-qualified thruster systems produced with additive manufacturing for CubeSats and other small satellites.20 Other aerospace groups focusing on smaller constructed artifacts have made significant advances in using additive manufacturing for their products.
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available to support additive manufacturing is only a small subset of those used in subtractive manufacturing. Research is under way to develop more sophisticated hybrid additive manufacturing systems that combine additive manufacturing machines with direct-write machines and other manufacturing technologies to enable embedding of electronic components and circuitry in three dimensions during fabrication.
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One side of the gradient has a near-zero thermal expansion, while the other side matches steel. SOURCE: NASA, Tech Briefs, "Applications for Gradient Metal Alloys Fabricated Using Additive Manufacturing: A New Roadmap for Gradient Metals that Could Be Used in Cars, Optics, Aircraft, and Sporting Goods," Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., October 1, 2013, http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/5ntb/tech-briefs/materials/17446.
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CubeSats were originally built using traditional spacecraft technologies. More recently, many are being built with a wide range of components and external structures produced with additive manufacturing materials.
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Even simple structures and objects were entirely manufactured on the ground and launched into space and connected by conventional methods. Although the Soviet space program conducted on-orbit welding experiments, and in-space welding has FIGURE 1.9 Example structures with embedded electronics fabricated via additive manufacturing combined with direct-write and other manufacturing technologies.
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This device was tested at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) (Figures 1.12 and 1.13)
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Cooper and M.R. Griffin, Microgravity Manufacturing Via Fused Deposition, NASA/TM-2003-212636, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., July 2003.
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simulator at Marshall Space Flight Center, the work stopped by the early 1980s, and NASA focused on on-orbit assembly of completed parts rather than in-space manufacturing. SOURCE: Courtesy of NASA.
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This early work, sponsored by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, was the forerunner to the upcoming International Space Station experiments. SOURCE: Courtesy of NASA.
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This device is scheduled for testing aboard the ISS in late 2014. CONCLUSION Additive manufacturing holds the potential to extend manufacturing capabilities to physical scales currently unobtainable with current spaceflight hardware construction practices.
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