The European Space Agency has presented a new 3D printing technology, which uses metals as a raw material and promises 50% lower manufacturing costs.
A new 3D printing technology using metals as a raw material was presented yesterday by ESA at the Science Museum in London. The technology is being developed as part of the AMAZE (Addictive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste and Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products) project, with the ultimate goal of printing entire satellites. Which will mean that the resulting space vehicles will have a 50% lower cost.
3D printers are currently very popular, although the vast majority of them are based on plastic materials and can therefore only manufacture plastic objects. Through AMAZE, the European space agency wants to develop the technology so that objects made of metals can be printed.
Before printing entire satellites, ESA aims to build parts for spacecraft, airplanes, nuclear reactors, and even cars. Using successive layers of metal, the 3D printer will ensure that these parts will be lighter and more durable, as they will consist of a single piece and will not have joints or welds.
This process will also enable the production of more complex components, using the same metals used in conventional manufacturing techniques (such as titanium or tungsten) to withstand the extreme conditions of space or a reactor – operating at temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, for example.
At the same time, however, thanks to 3D printing, exactly the amount of metal necessary for the specific component will be used, without consuming even a single extra gram of the raw material. “If we want to manufacture an object weighing 1 kilogram, we will need 1 kilogram of metal, and not 20 kilograms, as is the case today,” the presentation stated.
In this way, ESA claims that 3D printing will revolutionize the industry, with cheaper components that will also have better quality and greater durability. In fact, according to the European space agency, this technology will bring the era of the first commercial nuclear fusion reactor one step closer.
NASA has also developed a similar 3D printer for manufacturing metal parts for rockets and spacecraft. ESA's plans, however, are even more ambitious, as it claims that the printer it is developing will not be limited to parts, but will in the future be able to manufacture even entire satellites.
In such a case, he estimates that the cost of producing an unmanned spacecraft would be reduced by up to 50% – a figure that translates into savings of millions of euros.
The AMAZE project has a budget of 20 million euros and involves 28 universities and companies, including EADS, Airbus and Astrium.
Source: portal.kathimerini.gr
