US 12,313,024 B2
Manufacturing of a single piece rocket engine
Syed Peer Mohamed Shah Khadri, Tamil Nadu (IN); and Srinath Ravichandran, Tamil Nadu (IN)
Assigned to AGNIKUL COSMOS PRIVATE LIMITED, Chennai (IN)
Appl. No. 18/033,428
Filed by AGNIKUL COSMOS PRIVATE LIMITED, Tamil Nadu (IN)
PCT Filed Oct. 23, 2021, PCT No. PCT/IN2021/051010
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 24, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/085033, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 28, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 202041046382 (IN), filed on Oct. 23, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0407821 A1, Dec. 21, 2023
Int. Cl. F02K 9/64 (2006.01); B22F 10/28 (2021.01); B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B33Y 80/00 (2015.01); B22F 10/80 (2021.01); B33Y 50/00 (2015.01)
CPC F02K 9/64 (2013.01) [B22F 10/28 (2021.01); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 80/00 (2014.12); B22F 10/80 (2021.01); B33Y 50/00 (2014.12)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of additively manufacturing a single-piece 3D printed integrated engine for a satellite launch vehicle, comprising the steps of:
a. slicing a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) file of a single-piece three dimensional (3D) printed integrated engine into multiple layers, wherein the CAD design of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine comprises a combustion chamber, injectors, igniters, a nozzle, an injector plate and regenerative cooling channels, all incorporated into a unified piece, wherein the CAD design of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine is formed to aid in the removal of un-melted powders from internal channels while maintaining its design, thereby eliminating attachment points between different components to improve engine safety and reliability;
b. verifying the CAD file of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine by analyzing the internal channels and paths of each layer using computational fluid mechanics and 3D modeling to ensure the internal channels and the paths are formed without support structures to ease the removal of un-melted powder, and all internal channels are connected to openings at both ends, thereby avoiding the need for additional ports for powder removal and the design of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine is not compromised;
c. growing the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine layer-by-layer using laser powder bed fusion technology by
i. spreading a layer of pre-processed powder on a build platform;
ii. selectively fusing powders in a powder bed by melting the powder using a laser source;
iii. spreading a new layer of powder over a previously deposited layer by moving down the build platform; and
iv. repeating the steps i to iv until the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine is fully formed, wherein each part of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine is simultaneously grown in an integrated fashion along the length of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine using the laser powder bed fusion technology, wherein all the internal channels and the parts are covered in the powder if all the parts of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine are 3D printed, wherein the design of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine that is formed aids in de-powdering without the need for extra ports and reduces the mass of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine by eliminating bolts, seals, and interface joints,
d. de-powdering the printed part to remove the un-melted powders using a rotating vibration table, wherein the rotating vibration table is rotated in different orientations to remove the un-melted powders from the printed part; and
e. applying pneumatic pressure from one end of ports to remove residue of powders left inside the internal channels of the single-piece 3D printed integrated engine.