Sintavia engineers 3D print full thrust chamber assembly in one go
Take a fly through of the Florida-based service provider to see where it all happens
Sintavia engineers used the Florida-based AM service provider‘s AMCM M4K-4 printer to 3D print a thrust chamber assembly (TCA) in a copper alloy. The giant part combined three individual parts into a single monolith, thus reducing production time and cost while minimizing post-processing. Leveraging the AMCM M4K-4’s 450mm x 450mm x 1000mm build volume, the entire print job took 10 days.
The thrust chamber of a rocket engine comprises essentially a combustion chamber and a nozzle. This is the part of the engine in which the chemical energy of the propellants is converted into the kinetic energy of the combusted gas.
Sintavia has emerged as the largest pure-play additive manufacturer of advanced propulsion systems for flight and launch OEMs globally. The company’s products include rocket thrust chamber assemblies, high-performance heat exchangers, turbomachinery components, advanced fuel systems, and high-performance combustor assemblies. As the implementation rate of AM accelerates through the aerospace industry, Sintavia has emerged as a global leader in AM production of these critical assemblies.
In its 55,000 ft2 production facility, which was built around lean production principles (one of the very first AM factories of its kind to do so), Sintavia runs 26 high-productivity industrial printers. Metal additive manufacturing at Sintavia uses proprietary metal parameter sets for nickel, copper, titanium, aluminum, and refractory metals.
