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Alison Park

Publications and source records attributed to Alison Park.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2023

Handbook for Additively Manufactured Materials: Microstructure, Properties, and Fractography

As the additive manufacturing (AM) industry has grown and the processes have matured more alloys have been adapted to the various AM processes. Understanding the microstructure and properties of these AM alloys is important in designing parts that perform appropriately in application. For decades materials handbooks have been informative references for designers and engineers alike to know what properties and microstructures to expect in alloys produced by other forms of manufacturing. AM alloy references for properties and microstructures have been largely limited to literature that may not be subject to the same industry standard heat treatments or in standard process parameters. NASA has worked with partners to characterize various commercially available AM alloys with a high degree of traceability. This work aims utilize industry-relevant, traceable datasets to develop a new handbook for AM alloys to better inform designers and engineers of the microstructures, fractures, and first order properties from over 30 AM alloys produced across the industry.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRS2023

Additive Manufacturing in Space: Failing Upward

Not all 3D printed parts destined for space need to adhere to the standards of human space flight. Yet all parts made for space programs require some type of qualification and certification. NASA and The Barnes Global Advisors explore Q&C for these parts.

Laura Ely↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Robust Metal Additive Manufacturing Process Selection and Development for Aerospace Components

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a generic term that captures a variety of fabrication techniques. Each of these manufacturing process has unique advantages, applications for use, and challenges. The most common AM processes in use include Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED) as well as many solid state processes. While detailed research has been conducted among many of the processes including parameters and material properties, navigating which processes are best to select is difficult as it is based on component requirements. The focus of this presentation is to provide an overview of considerations for each of metal AM process selection for aerospace components based on various attributes. These attributes include geometric considerations, metallurgical characteristics, cost basis, post-processing and maturity of the processes. The data for these trade selections are based on studies that NASA as performed internally and with academic and industry partners. These studies include multiple AM build experiments to evaluate (1) geometric variations and constraints within the processes, (2) alloy characterization and mechanical testing, (3) pathfinder component development and hotfire evaluations, and (4) certification approaches. This presentation summarizes these results and meant to introduce various considerations when designing a metal AM component.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancement of Novel Additively Manufactured Alloys for Space Applications

NASA has been involved in the development and maturation of metal additive manufacturing (AM) for space applications since the late 2000’s. Several efforts have focused on the understanding of AM processes through material characterization and testing, standards development, component fabrication, and infusion into development and flight applications. While many common aerospace alloys have been and continue to be a focus of ongoing development, the need for custom-alloy developments for high performance applications enabled by AM processes has been realized. The applications being targeted are liquid rocket engines with high heat fluxes, high pressure, and that utilize propellants such as hydrogen, which can degrade the alloy. NASA has recently focused on the development and advancement of novel alloy advancement using AM for use in these harsh environments, such as GRCop-42, GRCop-84, NASA HR-1, and JBK-75. These alloys have been evaluated using the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and laser powder directed energy deposition (LP-DED) processes. The results from these processes have demonstrated that AM can enable rapid development of new alloy systems that can yield higher performances. These alloys have undergone the fundamental metallurgical evaluations, heat treatment study, and microstructure characterization and mechanical testing campaign. This, combined with direct application-specific component fabrication and hot-fire testing, enabled the increase of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL). This presentation will provide a background and overview of these AM-enabled novel alloys, AM processing development including metallurgical and mechanical property studies. It will also cover the latest advancement in the parallel component development and testing and future developments. The goal of these alloy development is to allow for technology infusion into NASA and commercial spaceflight missions as well as to establish and sustain the needed commercial AM supply chain.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Metal Additive Manufacturing Process Selection and Development for Propulsion Components

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a generic term that captures a variety of fabrication processes. Each of these manufacturing process has unique advantages and challenges for use in aerospace propulsion applications. The most commonly used AM processes include Powder Bed Fusion (PBF), Directed Energy Deposition (DED), and solid-state processes as in Cold Spray, Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing, and Additive Friction Stir Deposition. While detailed research has been conducted among many of the AM processes to mature processing parameters and material properties, navigating which processes are best to select is difficult as it is based on specific component requirements. The focus of this presentation is to provide an overview of considerations for each of metal AM process selection for aerospace components based on various key attributes. These key attributes include geometric considerations, metallurgical characteristics, cost basis, post-processing and maturity of the processes. The data for these trade selections are based on studies that NASA as performed internally and with academic and industry partners. These studies include multiple AM build experiments to evaluate (1) geometric variations and constraints within the processes, (2) alloy characterization and mechanical testing, (3) pathfinder component development and hot-fire evaluations, and (4) certification approaches. This presentation summarizes these results and is meant to introduce specific examples which show what to consider when designing a metal AM component for aerospace propulsion applications.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancement of Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes and Alloys for Rocket Propulsion Applications

NASA has been involved in the development and maturation of metal additive manufacturing (AM) for space applications since the 2000’s. Several efforts have focused on the understanding of AM processes through material characterization and testing, standards development, component fabrication, and infusion into development and flight applications. While many common aerospace alloys have been and continue to be a focus of ongoing development, the need for custom-alloy developments for high performance applications enabled by various AM processes has been realized. The applications being targeted are liquid rocket engines with high heat fluxes, high pressure, and that utilize propellants such as hydrogen, which can degrade the alloy. NASA has recently focused on the development and advancement of novel alloy advancement using AM for use in these harsh environments, such as GRCop-42, GRCop-84, NASA HR-1, and JBK-75. These alloys have been evaluated using powder bed fusion (PBF), directed energy deposition (DED), and solid-state AM processes. The results from these processes have demonstrated that AM can enable rapid development of new alloy systems that can yield higher performances across various metal AM processes. These alloys have undergone the fundamental metallurgical evaluations, heat treatment study, and microstructure characterization and mechanical testing campaign. This, combined with direct application-specific component fabrication and hot-fire testing, enabled the increase of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL). This presentation will provide a background and overview of various AM-enabled novel alloys, a comparison across the AM processes, and development including metallurgical and mechanical property studies. It will also cover the latest advancement in the parallel component development and testing and future developments. The goal of these alloy development and use of various AM processes is to allow for technology infusion into NASA and commercial spaceflight missions as well as to establish and sustain the needed commercial AM supply chain.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA's Approach to Additive Manufacturing Certification: Methodologies for Qualification of Additively Manufactured Aerospace Hardware

The implementation of additive manufacturing techniques to produce critical spaceflight systems is well underway. These technologies will be a key contributor to developing both launch vehicles and spacecraft that will play a crucial role in delivering the first woman and first person of color to the surface of the moon in 2025. To assist in the assurance of flight readiness, NASA has created comprehensive certification based standards for mature technologies for both metallic and nonmetallic materials.

Alison Park↗