Software Will Make 3D Printing Metals in Space a Reality
Nowadays when people are seriously thinking about building colonies on Mars, the usage of 3D printing technologies in space programs doesn’t seem to be so unrealistic. One of such programs is related to design of a large-scale 3D printer that can make metal components in space.
This program is developing by the European Space Agency (ESA) and called AMAZE (Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste & Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products).
The main goal of the AMAZE program is to put the first 3D metal printer on the International Space Station. This program involves about 30 different organizations and they all are working together on this mission.
One of the partners in the AMAZE program is Granta Design, which has helped optimize materials and processes for additive manufacturing (AM). There are several different possible AM processes that could be used in the project and all of them need detailed investigation and that means a lot of information that should collected and processed.
Granta’s primary role in this project is to manage the materials, processing, and test information for analysis and simulation. Granta has helped aerospace and defense organizations manage and apply their advanced metals and composites information for many years and we believe that their involvement to this project could make metals 3D printing in space real.
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