JMEPEG (2022) 31:6011–6012 ÓASM International

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06929-8 1059-9495/$19.00

GUEST EDITORIAL

Shahrooz Nafisi Douglas Hofmann Paul Gradl Reza Ghomashchi

Space and Aerospace Exploration Revolution: Metal Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been gaining momentum in government, industry, and academia and is now accepted
as a major disruptive technology for the future. Metal AM has changed the way some aerospace parts are being designed,
manufactured, and tested. This includes the consolidation of parts into a single monolithic component, the use of novel
high-temperature alloys and multi-material AM parts, mass reduction through complex lattices and design solutions, and
internal complexity to enhance performance not previously possible. The benefit of higher performance, reduced cost,
and shorter lead times for many of these parts has accelerated the adoption of AM in the aerospace industry, even
resulting in the creation of dedicated aerospace companies and equipment manufacturers focused solely on AM. Indeed,
the infusion of AM into actual flight applications in launch vehicles, spacecraft, satellites, aircraft, and rovers has
demonstrated the utility of AM for both government and commercial entities.

Initially, a significant amount of hype surrounded the use of AM for aerospace applications. The technology was touted
as being a replacement for a broad assortment of spacecraft and aircraft structural components, which was predicted to
displace many conventional manufacturing technologies. Over time, much of the inflated expectations subsided, as
realizations about post-processing, design allowables, qualification, repeatability, and true cost became apparent. In truth,
AM has been applied strategically to a number of aerospace components where there is a real benefit to using the
technology. Government and commercial entities have generally acquired their own AM equipment and have internally
designed, tested, qualified, and infused components for their own needs. This has included applications such as fully 3D
printed thrusters with internal cooling channels, advanced heat exchangers, multi-material rocket nozzles, complex
antenna components, and even large structural components. Currently, metal AM parts are being used in launch vehicles
and satellites, and some even sit on the surface of Mars, integrated into rovers.

Although adoption of AM has dramatically increased in the aerospace industry, much of that work has been opaque to the
scientific literature due to the proprietary nature of the applications. This has created a situation where the benefits and
challenges associated with AM for aerospace are not directly apparent to those who do research. As such, the goal of this
special issue is to provide practical uses and emerging manufacturing research specifically related to the use of AM for
aerospace.

The manuscripts provided in this special issue were solicited intentionally and rigorously peer-reviewed by industry and
academia experts. These manuscripts are intended to bridge the gap between fundamental research and practical infusion
of AM into aerospace applications. The diversity of papers in this issue span terrestrial and in-space AM, novel alloys and
materials, methods for inspection, process selection and efficiency, increased understanding of alloys, artificial

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 15(5) October 2007—6011

 intelligence and machine learning, design optimization, and creative use cases that we hope will inspire current and future
aerospace engineers and researchers.

We wish to thank all the authors for their valued contributions and extend sincere appreciation to the peer reviewers for
their time and expertise in evaluations to improve the quality of the papers. In addition, we would like to acknowledge
administrative assistance given by the ASM International team (Kate Doman and Vince Katona), as well as Anita
Lekhwani of Springer for conveying the idea. Special thanks to the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Rajiv Asthana, for his full
support during the preparation of this special issue.

Shahrooz Nafisi
Guest Editor
Relativity Space
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Contact e-mail: shahrooznafisi@gmail.com

Douglas Hofmann
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA, USA

Paul Gradl
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, AL, USA

Reza Ghomashchi
The University of Adelaide
Adelaide, Australia

Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

6012—Volume 31(8) August 2022 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance