Innovation: Development of Composite Rocket Nozzles via Modular Additive Manufacturing (AM) Heads with Assisted Large-Scale Dissolvable Tooling
Award Category: Manufacturing: Material and Process Innovation, 2025 CAMX ACE Winner
Company: Electroimpact, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Objective: This innovation combines Scalable Composite Robotic Additive Manufacturing (SCRAM) with large-scale additive manufacturing (AM) of an environmentally friendly water-soluble mandrels to enable the production of complex composite structures using automated fiber placement (AFP).
Results: Unlike conventional metal tooling, these AM water-soluble molds eliminate the need for machining, solvents, and labor-intensive demolding operations. The dissolvable mandrels enable the fabrication of complex composite geometries and can be removed post-processing without any mechanical intervention. This advanced AM material system delivers excellent surface quality and mechanical performance, enabling in-situ consolidation of high-performance carbon fiber–reinforced thermoplastic tapes essential for the Electroimpact AFP process. The featured demonstration, a composite rocket nozzle, is a high-temperature aerospace component manufactured using Electroimpact’s SCRAM system. The nozzle design incorporates deep-draw geometry, optimized fiber architecture, and seamless integration of high-performance thermoplastics, representing a significant advancement in composite manufacturing.
Impact: This integrated approach significantly reduces cost and lead time, while enabling complex geometries, faster production cycles, and greater design flexibility representing a major advancement in scalable, thermoplastic aerospace manufacturing.
From the Expert: “By merging additive manufacturing with dissolvable tooling, we’re unlocking a new level of design freedom and production efficiency in composites, making advanced aerospace and automotive manufacturing faster, cleaner, and more capable than ever before.” ~ Ahmed Arabi Hassen Group Leader and Senior R&D Scientist, Composites Innovation Group at ORNL
