OliverSedlacek
ACCESS: Confidential
- Joined
- 31 March 2022
- Messages
- 130
- Reaction score
- 147
From https://leap71.com/2024/12/23/leap-...e-rocket-engine-designed-by-computational-ai/ this sounds like progress!
To quote:
The success places LEAP 71 among an elite group of teams in the last 30 years that have mastered the challenges of the unique Aerospike engine design. By leveraging the power of Noyron’s computational AI, the thruster was developed in a matter of weeks, manufactured as a monolithic piece of copper through industrial 3D printing, and put on the test stand, where it worked successfully on the first attempt.
The Aerospike was printed using a Laser Powder Bed Fusion process by industrial partner Aconity3D with an advanced aerospace copper alloy (CuCrZr). After it was cleaned of excess copper powder by Solukon, it underwent heat treatment at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology. The University of Sheffield’s Race 2 Space Team prepared the engine for the test site and provided active support during the campaign.
The Aerospike was fired on December 18th, 2024, as part of a four-engines-in-four-days campaign conducted by LEAP 71 at Airborne Engineering in Westcott, UK.
To quote:
The success places LEAP 71 among an elite group of teams in the last 30 years that have mastered the challenges of the unique Aerospike engine design. By leveraging the power of Noyron’s computational AI, the thruster was developed in a matter of weeks, manufactured as a monolithic piece of copper through industrial 3D printing, and put on the test stand, where it worked successfully on the first attempt.
The Aerospike was printed using a Laser Powder Bed Fusion process by industrial partner Aconity3D with an advanced aerospace copper alloy (CuCrZr). After it was cleaned of excess copper powder by Solukon, it underwent heat treatment at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology. The University of Sheffield’s Race 2 Space Team prepared the engine for the test site and provided active support during the campaign.
The Aerospike was fired on December 18th, 2024, as part of a four-engines-in-four-days campaign conducted by LEAP 71 at Airborne Engineering in Westcott, UK.
