Refractory Additive Manufacturing: An Enabling Technology for Hypersonic Missions

Additive manufacturing uniquely offers an enabling and affordable technology to produce complex shaped integrated metallic aerostructures for hypersonic vehicles. The 3D printed refractory metal components incorporated heat pipe cooling technology was successfully tested to demonstrate functionality in the operational environment. This presentation will include progress in achieving high quality and high performance 3D printed refractory metal components, and the test results of the integrated components in the high heat flux environments for hypersonic missions.