ISRO Tests 3D-Printed Rocket Engine

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully tested a liquid rocket engine made with the help of Additive Manufacturing Technology — commonly known as 3D printing.

The PS4 engine, designed for the fourth stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), was redesigned by ISRO for production using 3D printing.
The PS4 engine uses a bipropellant combination of nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer and monomethyl hydrazine as the fuel
Laser Powder Bed Fusion technique used in the manufacturing process. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is a metal 3D printing technique where a laser selectively melts and fuses metal particles, building up a 3D object layer by layer.
The technology helped ISRO bring down the number of parts in the engine from 14 to a single piece.

What is 3D Printing?

About:

The term 3D printing is typically used to refer to all types of additive manufacturing.
It refers to the transformation of a digital CAD (Computer-Aided Design) file into a three-dimensional physical solid object or part.
It typically does this by depositing material layer by layer in precise geometric shapes using a printhead, nozzle, or other printing technology.
It is an additive process, in which layers of a material like plastic, composites, or bio-materials are built up to construct objects that range in shape, size, rigidity, and color.

Process:

The process of 3D printing a building involves the use of computer-aided design (CAD) software to create a digital blueprint.
This blueprint is then converted into a format the 3D printer can understand, typically a . STL or.OBJ file.

It has widely been applied to the agricultural, biomedical, automotive, and aerospace industries
There are numerous applications of 3D printing technology for producing biomedical products such as drugs, artificial skin, bone cartilage, tissue, and organs, and in cancer research and education.
It is used widely in the manufacturing industry and medical education field.
It has been used to create complex walls, endodontic guides, sports shoes, engine parts for the aviation industry, and tumor reconstruction.

3D printing technology, which has the potential to revolutionize the construction industry, offers unprecedented design freedom, reduces material waste, and significantly reduces construction time.
It enables the creation of complex architectural forms that would be challenging to achieve with traditional methods.
It allows for the customization and optimization of building components.
The layer-by-layer approach of 3D printing allows precise control over material distribution and structural integrity, resulting in highly efficient and robust structures.

The slow adoption in India can be attributed to the lack of understanding about 3D printing.
In the 3D printing industry, parts to build the printer are still very expensive.
Lack of investment and fewer R&D centers for 3D printing are some of the additional factors that are holding back large-scale adoption.

3D printing technology has emerged in recent years as a flexible and powerful technique in advanced manufacturing.
The future demand for 3D printing lies in its capability to perform different print functions and “print-it-all” structures.
These functions are progressively perceived as the driving force for researchers and practitioners.
A better understanding of 3D printing technology and its applications among users will help increase its adoption
The successful hot testing of the 3D-printed PS4 engine is a significant step in leveraging additive manufacturing technology for rocket engines in the future.
This paves the way for the induction of the additively manufactured PS4 engine into the regular PSLV program, ushering in a new era of advanced manufacturing techniques for India’s space endeavors.