According to Auburn University, Masoud Mahjouri-Samani and his team have successfully tested a nanoparticle 3D printer on board a flight with a zero border sponsored by NASA.
The compact device, solved (laser ablation and sinter -enable deposit), was flown on board a modified Boeing 727 near Salina, Kansas. While around 30 parabolic arches – 23 to 25 seconds microgravitation each – the machine was printed without a trailer coupling. “This was a one-shot victory. The machine is beautifully printed from the first parabola. This level of success on a first flight is extremely rare,” said Mahjouri-Samani.
The flight was part of the $ 870,000-in-state project “In Space dry printing electronics and semiconductor devices”. The goal: to enable astronauts to print electronics at need – including antennas, sensors and monitors – without needing shipments from the earth. “In the room you want to print what you need if you need it,” he said.
The system placed, only 24 inches per side and draws below 500 watts, integrates the generation of nanoparticles, the nozzle base and the sintering everything fully automated. “It is a fully functional machine. Everything is integrated. You can program you so that you can do complex tasks in 20 seconds,” he said.
The machine was also developed for space bracket, which were tested up to 18 g. The performance exceeded expectations. “Sometimes other systems need several flights to get usable pressure,” he said. “Our worked perfectly on Parabola.” Over time, the team printed additional rehearsals – basic circuit patterns – to confirm consistency and accuracy.
The Auburn University team submitted a technical report after the flight, in which a complete comparative study was published. “The summary is … the machine works very well in gravity in the zero,” said Mahjouri-Samani. “What we printed there was either the same or in some cases better than what we printed on Earth.”
“Next year we will try to print semiconductors,” said Mahjouri-Samani. “This was a small step for our printer, a huge leap for the room -based production.”