Students Build A 3D Printer That Makes Rocket Parts

A team of bachelor students in Switzerland were reported to have designed a 3D high-speed multi-material metal printer that could change the future of aerospace, propulsion, and e-mobility manufacturing.

In only nine months, the young researchers reportedly built the prototype machine, which utilizes a rotating laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) system to print cylindrical metal parts significantly faster than conventional systems.

Moreover, the breakthrough enables simultaneous processing of multiple metals in a single operation. This meansscientists can print parts such as rocket nozzles with a copper core and a nickel-alloy exterior in one seamless step.

"This process is ideally suited to rocket nozzles, rotating engines, and many other components in the aerospace industry," Michael Robert Tucker, PhD, a lecturer at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, said. "They typically have a large diameter but very thin walls."

The new metal printer, which the six bachelor students in their fifth and sixth semesters created, addresses two major challenges in current metal additive manufacturing, speed and multi-material capabilities.

Traditional LPBF printers operate in a stop-start fashion by sequentially applying and fusing each layer. In contrast, the team’s innovative solution rotates the printing platform, allowing powder to be deposited and fused continuously.

"For small players like our student rocket team, this sort of multi-material technology has up to now been too complex and too expensive, putting it out of reach," Tucker explained.

This high-speed rotation slashes production time for cylindrical components by more than two-thirds. It can also print with two different metals simultaneously, which current 3D printers can’t achieve without multiple printing stages or complex post-processing.

The student-led project, named RAPTURE, was initially designed to help ARIS (the Swiss Academic Space Initiative) build bi-liquid-fueled rocket nozzles capable of surviving spaceflight conditions.

ARIS aims to reach the Kármán Line, the international boundary for space set at 62 miles (100 kilometers above) Earth’s surface in the coming years.

According to Tucker, what sets the machine apart is its rotating powder delivery and gas flow system, which proved critical to the quality of the printed parts. The mechanism blows inert gas across the fusion zone, preventing oxidation during the printing process.

At the same time, soot, spatter, and other by-products are continuously extracted through a dedicated outlet, ensuring a cleaner build environment and higher part integrity. "At first we underestimated the extent to which the gas flow mechanism affects product quality," Tucker explained. "Now we know it’s crucial."