News 3D printed Injector heads

[MaverickSawyer]

NASA has undertaken research into 3D printing the injector heads of rocket engines. The results look promising so far: equal performance at half the manufacturing costs.

http://news.yahoo.com/3d-printed-rocket-parts-excel-nasa-tests-155412871.html

 

[Artlav]

Please insert "I printed a Deltaglider" joke here, my brain is not in gear now to make a funny one.

 

[ky]

Please insert "I printed a Deltaglider" joke here, my brain is not in gear now to make a funny one.

Artlav, was it you that was working on a homemade 3D printer?

 

[N_Molson]

This is rather encouraging, seems a major progress in manufacturing techniques.

 

[Unstung]

The article references Pratt & Whitney Aerojet Rocketdyne which is competing against ATK to win the contract for the SLS's rocket boosters. Rocketdyne will use a similar method to construct their F-1B engines.

Articles:
How NASA brought the monstrous F-1 “moon rocket” engine back to life
New F-1B rocket engine upgrades Apollo-era design with 1.8M lbs of thrust
I found the information when reading this, apparently the author writes numerous stories on spaceflight.
The F-1B is of course a different engine, but it's relevant because the F-1/F-1A has been analyzed digitally and improved using modern techniques. The two articles detail the process of creating a modern engine.

 

[Artlav]

Artlav, was it you that was working on a homemade 3D printer?

Two of them, RepRap style - http://reprap.org
But these are toys compared to laser metal sintering ones used to print rocket engines.