![]() ![]() “We choose the woov because it contains both thick and thin walls, as well as a weld. “This has been flown on ESA’s Columbus Space Station module, as part of its plumbing. “The very first item we produced was a titanium copy of a stainless steel ‘woov’ (water on-off valve),” explains Laurent. Anything suitable for the printing process can be designed by computer then printed as an actual item, typically by melting powder or wire materials, in plastic or metal. ![]() The process starts with a computer-aided design (CAD) model, which is then sliced horizontally apart to plan its layer-based physical construction. It is the difference from digging out a bunker to building a house. Instead of standard ‘subtractive manufacturing’ – where material is cut away from a single piece – AM involves building up a part from a series of layers, each one printed on top of the other. Computer designs translated to physical models Residue from the metallic beads used to clean the 3D-printed structure can be seen trapped within the ball lattice, showing the need for an improved cleaning process in future.Ģ. ![]() With the idea that similar geometries could be used in future for ultralight satellite structures, the balls have been analysed in ESA’s Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory. ![]()
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