Additive manufacturing offers a compelling opportunity for space propulsion systems by enabling complex geometries, part consolidation, and performance-driven designs that are not achievable through conventional manufacturing routes. However, the adoption of additively manufactured alloys for flight-critical propulsion hardware remains constrained by long development timelines, a limited set of qualified materials, and qualification frameworks rooted in traditional manufacturing paradigms.
QuesTek’s Integrated Computational Materials Design (ICMD®) framework, grounded in Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) principles, is applied to an in-space propulsion case study to demonstrate accelerated alloy development for additive manufacturing. ICMD integrates physics-based models with thermodynamic and kinetic databases to establish quantitative process-structure-property relationships, enabling the co-optimization of alloy chemistry, additive processing parameters, and post-build heat treatments. In the propulsion case study, this approach is used to design alloys that balance printability with demanding requirements such as high strength, thermal stability, and environmental resistance relevant to in-space operating environments.
Beyond alloy design, the same in-space propulsion case study is used to illustrate how the ICMD framework can support more efficient pathways for qualification and adoption of new materials in aerospace. Mechanistic insight and model-informed predictions of material behavior enable risk-based qualification strategies, including reduced test matrices, targeted validation testing, and model-informed material allowables. These capabilities are particularly impactful for space propulsion applications, where low production volumes and aggressive performance targets challenge empirically intensive qualification approaches. Together, ICME-driven alloy design and model-enabled qualification demonstrate a scalable path to expand the additive manufacturing materials landscape for next-generation space propulsion systems.
