Additive manufacturing development of a 350 kN class engine thrust chamber

Since the successful flight of Rocketlab's Rutherford engine, many NewSpace companies have been actively researching the development of large rocket engines using additive manufacturing. In this study, a 350 kN-class methane engine thrust chamber was designed and manufactured using additive manufacturing for the development of a reusable launch vehicle in South Korea. The powder bed fusion method was used for the combustor head, cylinder, and nozzle throat to produce a fine regenerative cooling channel structure and precise injectors, and the directed energy deposition method was used to produce the supersonic nozzle extension. In order to overcome the overhang structure commonly encountered in PBF, we developed a "Medusa" type head design composed of multiple tubes, which enabled an integrated head and chamber design.