Aerojet partners with Energy Department, University of Tennessee on laser work

The College of Engineering and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have embarked on a new initiative with defense contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne in additive manufacturing for the aerospace industry.

Part of a contractual arrangement with Aerojet Rocketdyne and the Air Force Research Laboratory, the program centers around the acquisition of three high-end laser machines: two Concept Laser X Line systems — one of which is installed at MDF and the other at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Los Angeles–based facility — and one EOS M400, located at Atlantic Precision’s Florida location. The program includes the backing of the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the Department of Energy.

Each machine uses a version of additive manufacturing known as laser powder bed fusion to convert metal powder into liquid rocket engine (LRE) components. For ORNL, it’s the latest step in an increasing expertise in advanced manufacturing.

“This aligns with our mission to provide leadership in the application of science and technology, to expand additive manufacturing technology, and to transfer that technology to a wide range of industries,” said Craig Blue, director of the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, which operates a 1,200-acre manufacturing and test facility in the Highland industrial park in East Camden, has been working on additive manufacturing research for the past decade. The new arrangement and additional investment allow them to work with UT to develop and research new metal capabilities, a key priority for the company.

“These systems are highly complex and massive, in contrast to the more common smaller machines used in the past,” said Jeff Haynes, program manager for Aerojet Rocketdyne’s additive manufacturing efforts. “With these new platforms and alloy types, we can expand almost six times in volume from the parts we were making before.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne is one of the leading manufacturers of rocket propulsion systems in the world. Aerojet Rocketdyne’s focus is on developing lower-cost engines with the involvement of UT and ORNL providing materials and manufacturing expertise to the program.

A subsidiary of publicly traded GenCorp., Aerojet Rocketdyne produces propulsion motors for the Lockheed Martin’s Patriot missile system in the East Camden industrial park.

“While the primary goal is to develop liquid rocket engine parts, the expanded goals of the program will be to demonstrate other applications to see how much potential these machines will have for the US industrial base,” said Haynes. “Since we can now build large parts in rapid speed and our production needs are relatively low volume, these machines will have some excess capacity to help build new industrial base applications.”