Use of 3D printing in astronomical mirror fabrication

Roulet, Melanie; Atkins, Carolyn; Hugot, Emmanuel; Snell, Robert M.; Vorst, Bart van de; Morris, Katherine C.; Marcos, Michel; Todd, Iain; Miller, Christopher J.; Dufils, Joris; Farkas, Szigfrid; Mező, György; Tenegi, F.; Vega-Moreno, A.; Schnelter, Hermine

doi:10.1117/12.2556921

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Over the past decade a number of different organisations have explored metal lightweight AM mirrors using laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF). 14,15 There are seven categories of AM and PBF represents the category where a layer of metallic powder is fused together using a heat source. The advantage of this method is that intricate structures can be achieved with relatively thin walls (∼1 mm) providing a new design space for lightweight mirrors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advantage of this method is that intricate structures can be achieved with relatively thin walls (∼1 mm) providing a new design space for lightweight mirrors. In addition to metallic mirrors, AM ceramics have been investigated for mirror applications, such as alumina, 15 silicon carbide variants 16,17 and cordierite. 15 Unlike the metal counterparts, AM ceramic mirrors have been created using a variety of AM categories, fused deposition modelling 16 (FDM; filament), stereolithography 15 (SLA; liquid resin) and binder jetting 17 (powder + a binding agent).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to metallic mirrors, AM ceramics have been investigated for mirror applications, such as alumina, 15 silicon carbide variants 16,17 and cordierite. 15 Unlike the metal counterparts, AM ceramic mirrors have been created using a variety of AM categories, fused deposition modelling 16 (FDM; filament), stereolithography 15 (SLA; liquid resin) and binder jetting 17 (powder + a binding agent). Beyond lightweight AM mirrors, there have been a number of investigations into AM for optical housings, 18,19 opto-mechanical structures 20 and compliant mechanisms [21][22][23] for astronomy or space-based applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Understanding the role of additive manufacturing in the development of astronomical hardware

Atkins,

Chahid,

Wells

et al. 2023

Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems IV

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lightweight optical manufacture is no longer confined to the conventional subtractive (mill and drill), formative (casting and forging) and fabricative (bonding and fixing) manufacturing methods. Additive manufacturing (AM; 3D printing), creating a part layer-by-layer, provides new opportunities to reduce mass and combine multiple parts into one structure. Frequently, modern astronomical telescopes and instruments, ground- and space-based, are limited in mass and volume, and are complex to assemble, which are limitations that can benefit from AM. However, there are challenges to overcome before AM is considered a conventional method of manufacture, for example, upskilling engineers, increasing the technology readiness level via AM case studies, and understanding the AM build process to deliver the required material properties. This paper describes current progress within a four-year research programme that has the goal to explore these challenges towards creating a strategy for AM adoption within astronomical hardware. Working with early-career engineers, case studies have been undertaken which focus on lightweight AM aluminium mirror manufacture and optical mountings. In parallel, the aluminium AM build parameters have been investigated to understand which combination of parameters results in AM parts with consistent material properties and low defects. Metrology results from two AM case studies will be summarised: the optical characteristics of a lightweighted aluminium mirror intended for in-orbit deployment from a nanosat; and the AM build quality of wire arc additive manufacture for use in an optomechanical housing. Finally, an analysis of how surface roughness from AM mirror samples and build parameters are linked will be discussed.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Understanding the role of additive manufacturing in the development of astronomical hardware

Atkins,

Chahid,

Wells

et al. 2023

Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems IV

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A cluster of AM research came from an Horizon 2020 project. CubeSat mirrors, 2 deformable mirrors 3 and freeform optics 4 all featured as part of A2IM (Additive Astronomy Integrated-Component Manufacturing) within OPTICON (Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy). 5 This has led to offshoots from the A2IM team including Atkins et al 6 as well as this research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards understanding and eliminating defects in additively manufactured CubeSat mirrors

Snell

Atkins

Schnetler

et al. 2022

Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation V

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fabricating mirrors using additive manufacturing (AM; 3D printing) is a promising yet under-researched production route. There are several issues that need to be better understood before AM can be fully adopted to fabricate mirror substrates. A significant obstacle to AM adoption is the presence of porosity and the influence that has on the resultant optical proprieties. Several batches of high-silicon aluminium (AlSi10Mg) samples were created to investigate the relationships laser parameters, laser paths and build orientations have with the porosity. The results showed that eliminating defects relies on a complex interaction of the process parameters and material properties, with the residual heating from the laser proving to be a significant factor. In addition, the use of a hot isostatic press is investigated and some full prototypes of the Cassegrain CubeSat were produced.

show abstract

“…An overview of the A2IM work package is presented at this conference by Schnetler et al (2020), 1 with further A2IM prototype contributions discussed in papers by Farkas et al (2020), 2 Vega et al (2020) 3 and Roulet et al (2020). 4 This paper presents an A2IM prototype development towards lightweight mirror technology for nano-satellite applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%