Pulse Power Based Additive Manufacturing of Functional Aircraft Parts from Refractory and Ceramic Materials

Lunar Resources , Inc. (LR) and University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) are developing the linear transformer driver additive manufacturing system (LTDAMS) for additively manufacturing of high-temperature materials. This revolutionary manufacturing technology utilizing high energy short EM pulses to heat materials can be applied to manufacture Orb/eVTOL/UAM combustors, injectors, turbine blades, and other parts requiring high temperature refractory and ceramic materials. The LTDAMS delivers pulsed energy to manufacture ultra-high temperature metals, alloys, and ceramics. The pulse rate, energy output and pulse lifetime can be scaled and adjusted to deliver a targeted amount of energy onto a material over a period of time, enabling the LTDAMS to manufacture parts from ultra-high temperature refractory materials with superior microstructures, and through micro-pulse annealing achieving down to a 3 ?m or better surface finish without requiring subtractive manufacturing processes.