1999 / Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings
PREV and NEXT link to numerically adjacent references for this YEAR.
CONTENTS links to the title list for this YEAR's references.
Author Robert Crockett (a), Dan Petersen (b), Ken Cooper (c), (a) Milwaukee School of Engineering, (b) NASA Johnson Space Center, (c) NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Source Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings, 1999, pp 671-678
Abstract Because of its manufacturing flexibility, Solid Freefonn Fabrication will be of enormous value to human exploration of space. Storing a large number of replacement parts on long duration missions, such as a journey to Mars, is impractical, and waiting for replacement parts will not be an option. SFF has a number of potential advantages over traditional machining for use in a space-based manufacturing facility, but the reduced gravity environment imposes a unique set of design constraints on SFF systems. Besides materials, resolution, and throughput, additional considerations include equipment mass / complexity / power requirements, feedstock containment and handling, and the ability of a single machine to produce objects from multiple materials. Deposition systems such as Fused Deposition Modeling and Shape Deposition Manufacturing are attractive candidates for meeting these challenges. Because they employ a very small melt volume that solidifies rapidly, these techniques are well suited to reduce d gravity operations. By adding particles to the feedstock (FDC/FDMet) and obtaining the final material properties in a second sintering step, a variety of materials can be deposited from single piece of equipment. We have performed an initial evaluation of the potential for reduced gravity manufacturing using a stock Fused Deposition Modeling system (FDM 1600) as well as a fluid deposition system optimized for zero-gravity operation. These systems were flown on the NASA KC-135 Reduced Gravity Aircraft this June, in preparation for an upcoming Space Shuttle experiment. (Auth abstract) [References: 4]
Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings can be obtained from: The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
or contact:
The University of Texas at Austin
Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication / Texas Materials Institute
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
c/o The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
MC C2200
Austin, TX 78712-1063 USA
512-471-3026; 512-471-7681 FX; Email: sffsymp@uts.cc.utexas.edu