Space manufacturing in The NextSpace TestRig
Objects in space are subjected to a hard vacuum that cycles rapidly between extremes of temperature
3D printing in Space is a different ball game then printing on earth. The conditions are brutal; pressure and temperature can have a great impact on the quality of the 3D printed product. Engineers of the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering created a Space simulator to test the structure and quality of 3D printing in orbit.
Space manufacturing and 3D printing is gaining more and more interest. The technology allows you to make new products and spare components ‘in orbit’ that can be critical for a space mission, think antennas and construction parts for solar cells etcetera.
Dr Gilles Bailet, University of Glasgow, said: “3D printing is a very promising technology for allowing us to build very complex structures directly in orbit instead of taking them into space on rockets. It could enable us to create a wide variety of devices, from lightweight communications antennas to solar reflectors to structural parts of spacecraft or even human habitats for missions to the Moon and beyond.”
“The NextSpace TestRig uses a specially-constructed vacuum chamber capable of generating temperatures between -150°C and +250°C to create space-like conditions on Earth and is designed to help support the developing field of space manufacturing. The testing facility features a unique magazine system that can autonomously test multiple samples in a single cycle, making it significantly more efficient than traditional testing methods. The system can apply up to 20 kilonewtons of force (equivalent to 2,000 kilograms) to break samples and analyse their properties in vacuum conditions matching those of space. It can also subject samples to cycles of extreme temperatures mimicking those they would face in orbit.
More information at the Glasgow University website
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