Manufacturing of launcher propulsion system components with Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM)

In space applications, materials with high strength to weight ratios along with properties such as excellent tensile strength, fatigue strength and fracture toughness in combination with low density are needed. However, there are specific parts such as launcher propulsion system components, where the focus of the properties are also on heat conductivity, mechanical strength at elevated temperatures and dissimilar material combinations.

Present work describes the mechanical, thermal and fatigue properties of the specific materials such as In625, Ti-6-4 and CuCrZr used in single or multi-material combinations and report the feasibility of CSAM of components with large dimensions and specific geometrical complexity to demonstrate the potential of the CSAM process as an innovative process for additive manufacturing for space applications.

The manufacturing of highly complex components, such as combustion chambers, is straight forward by using cold spray process. While using Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) technology, it is possible to create a combustion chamber without restrictions in terms of size and with properties that are superior to other AM process. Looking at the deposition rates of about 10 kg/h for Cu-alloy and 6.7 kg/h for In625 the process is very economic, concerning manufacturing speed. Additionally, the CSAM process is known for very high deposition efficiencies (DE), in the discussed example values of 99% for Cu-alloy and of 79% for Inconel were measured and this also reduces the production costs compared to other AM technologies significantly.

Cold spraying is a solid-state process, which makes it an attractive method for repairing / restoration, while maintaining the unique properties of the original components or improving the properties of the repaired components by depositing essential materials, especially with regard to corrosion and wear resistance. Cold sprayed coatings even deliver full corrosion protection and wear resistance at the same time with high deposition rates.