{"id":12433,"date":"2017-05-31T06:05:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T06:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/?p=12433"},"modified":"2017-05-31T06:05:24","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T06:05:24","slug":"new-centre-introducing-esa-projects-space-firms-3d-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/new-centre-introducing-esa-projects-space-firms-3d-printing\/","title":{"rendered":"New centre introducing ESA projects and space firms to 3D printing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Harnessing 3D printing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ESA is establishing a new \u2018one-stop shop\u2019 covering 3D printing for space in partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

The MTC research organisation, based in Coventry and home to the UK National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, will manage the new ESA Additive Manufacturing Benchmarking Centre (AMBC), which will provide a simple and easy way for ESA projects and hi-tech companies to investigate the potential of 3D printing for their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

The move will see the ESA call on the expertise of the MTC, which offers access to the latest state-of-the-art 3D printing capabilities, allowing prototype parts to be produced and then assessed in terms of their suitability for specific applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ESA\u2019s Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality has called for the creation of a detailed roadmap for the harnessing of 3D printing to the space sector,\u201d says Torben Henriksen, Head of ESA\u2019s Mechanical Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been guided to set up this centre, with customers and industrial partners questioning us about the best way to try out 3D printing for the first time and test out the maturity of the results.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tommaso Ghidini, head of ESA\u2019s Materials and Processes Section, added: \u201cHaving identified this requirement, we have outsourced its operation to MTC.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to compete with industry; instead, the idea is that ESA projects and interested companies can investigate this new engineering world to the point where they will take a decision to proceed further.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Dave Brackett, technology manager for additive manufacturing at the MTC, believes ESA\u2019s exploration of the use of 3D printing will be incredibly beneficial for the technology: \u201cThis is a brilliant opportunity to further the technology in one of the most testing and dynamic application areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAs the UK National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, we are in a unique position to work with ESA as their Additive Manufacturing Benchmarking Centre and provide the space sector with access to state-of-the-art capability and understanding to support industrial exploitation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s Vega small launcher will be the first project to make use of the Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy evolving Vega over time, we aim to hone its competitiveness, increase its flexibility and reduce recurring costs,\u201d said Giorgio Tumino, overseeing \u00a0Vega\u2019s development programme for ESA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re cooperating with AMBC to investigate the use of 3D printing for rocket engine thrust chambers for Vega\u2019s upper stage, potentially allowing for a significant simplification in production and reduced costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor such high\u2013pressure\/high-efficiency liquid rocket thrust chambers, a good surface finish is essential, with the absence of critical defects and the equivalent strength properties of its parent material \u2013 produced to a size at the limit of the current capabilities for powder-based additive manufacturing machines, using non-standard alloys.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAMBC will demonstrate the capability to use 3D printing on copper-based thrust chambers and set the proper process parameters, producing a one-third scale thrust chamber that can then be used for firing tests.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf all goes well, then the next step would be to scale it up to full scale, and start the formal qualification of the process for flight use.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The facility maintains a broad portfolio of materials, machines and post-processing options, which will enable AMBC to print a variety of test hardware, using polymers, metal and ceramic 3D printers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow-up testing, including detailed failure investigations, will supply customers with a fuller understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen 3D printing method, along with advice on future improvements.<\/span><\/p>\n

All test results generated by AMBC will be published in a Europe-wide newsletter, to spread its knowhow as widely as possible, and consolidate European leadership in 3D printing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre, on the MTC campus, is about an hour\u2019s journey from the ESA\u2013Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory at ESA\u2019s Harwell facility, which is focused on improving scientific understanding of 3D printing and other advanced manufacturing techniques.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ESA is establishing a new \u2018one-stop shop\u2019 covering 3D printing for space in partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre. The MTC research organisation, based in Coventry and home to the UK National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, will manage the new ESA Additive Manufacturing Benchmarking Centre (AMBC), which will provide a simple and easy way for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",600,400,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",600,400,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",700,467,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",540,360,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",95,63,false],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",640,427,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",96,64,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Harnessing_3D_printing_node_full_image_2.jpg",150,100,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Amrita Tuladhar"]},"category_info":"Space\/ AstroPhysics<\/a>","tag_info":"Space\/ AstroPhysics","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}