06/10/2024
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The deposition of a small S-curve in liquefied stainless steel is a giant leap for on-orbit manufacturing: the very first metal 3D printing aboard the International Space Station took place last Thursday, aboard the Columbus laboratory module of the ESA.
Sébastien Girault, member of the Airbus team – which leads the consortium – adds: “We are very pleased to have achieved the first ever metal 3D printing on board the ISS; the quality is as good as we dreamed! »
The Metal 3D Printer technology demonstrator was developed by an industrial team led by Airbus – which is also co-funding the project – under contract with ESA’s Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate.
It was delivered to the ISS last January. ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen then installed the approximately 180 kg payload into the EDR-2 modular cabinet of the ESA Columbus module.
The design of the Metal 3D printer is based on a stainless steel wire that is fed into the printing area; this is heated by a high-power laser, approximately a million times more powerful than a standard laser pointer. When the end of the wire melts, the molten metal is added to the print.
The printing process is entirely supervised from the ground. The crew’s only responsibility is to open a nitrogen and ventilation valve before printing begins. For safety reasons, the printer operates in a fully sealed box, preventing any heat or smoke from escaping.
Four shapes have been chosen for subsequent full-scale 3D printing, which will then be sent to Earth to be compared to reference prints made on the ground in normal gravity.
ESA materials engineer Advenit Makaya, from the ESA Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality, provided his recommendations for the project: “Two of these printed parts will be analyzed at the Laboratory of materials and electrical components from ESTEC, the Netherlands, to help us understand whether prolonged microgravity has an effect on the printing of metal parts. The other two will be sent to the European Astronaut Center and the Technical University of Denmark, DTU. »
One of ESA’s future development goals is to create a circular space economy and recycle materials in orbit to enable better use of resources, such as transforming pieces of old satellites into new tools or structures. A working version of the Metal 3D printer would eliminate the need to send a tool aboard a launch vehicle and allow astronauts to print necessary parts in orbit.
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