SFF2016 v3.pdf (1.95 MB)
Investigating the additive manufacture of extra-terrestrial materials
conference contribution
posted on 2016-10-12, 10:51 authored by Athanasios Goulas, Daniel EngstromDaniel Engstrom, Ross J. Friel, Russell A. HarrisThe Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing process category, consists of a group of key enabling technologies allowing the fabrication of both intrinsic and complex structures for a series of applications, including aerospace and astronautics. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the potential application of in-space additive manufacturing/3D printing, for onsite fabrication of structures and parts, using the available extra-terrestrial natural resources as feedstock. This study was carried out by using simulants of terrestrial origin, mimicking the properties of those respective materials found extra-terram (in space). An investigation was conducted through material characterisation, processing and by powder bed fusion, and resultant examination by analytical techniques. The successful realisation of this manufacturing approach in an extra-terrestrial environment could enable a sustainable presence in space by providing the ability to build assets and tools needed for long duration/distance missions in deep space. Introduction
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Published in
2016 Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium Proceedings (SFF Symp 2016)Citation
GOULAS, A. ... et al., 2016. Investigating the additive manufacture of extra-terrestrial materials. IN: Proceedings of the 2016 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference, Austin, Texas, USA, August 8-10, 2016.Publisher
Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication and University of Texas at AustinVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Acceptance date
2016-08-22Publication date
2016Notes
This is a conference paper. The proceedings archive is at: http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/archiveLanguage
- en