Materials and Manufacturing
Developing manufacturing technology in space is crucial for establishing sustainable habitation and exploration beyond Earth. This involves combining additive manufacturing with traditional processes like materials forming and heat treatment to construct robust structures such as large solar arrays directly in space. Adapting welding techniques for space conditions is essential for assembling and repairing spacecraft, habitats, and infrastructure, necessitating innovative approaches to address the absence of gravity and the presence of vacuum. Additionally, repurposing space debris for materials offers opportunities to reduce waste and conserve resources, while exploiting microgravity and radiation environments enables the creation of novel materials with unique properties, such as radiation-hardened semiconductor devices for military and defense applications.
Furthermore, studying material behavior in microgravity and extreme space conditions informs the selection and optimization of materials for space construction, enhancing the durability and efficiency of space structures. These advancements contribute to the safety and success of long-term space exploration missions, making them crucial for sustainable human presence beyond Earth. Overall, the development of manufacturing technology and materials science in space is integral to unlocking the potential for extended missions and future space colonies, marking a significant step towards realizing the vision of sustained habitation and exploration in LEO.
Current Research Areas
Materials Research
An aspect of manufacturing in LEO is the use of microgravity and radiation to create new or traditional materials with properties that cannot be produced in gravity. Since any such material must have an intrinsic value that justifies launch, manufacture, and return to earth; the most likely candidate is semiconductor devices, which are manufactured robotically. The added value of unique devices built on traditional substrates might be sufficient to justify such experimentation. The radiation environment in LEO and beyond is already a test ground for radiation-hardened devices which continue to be of great interest for military and defense needs.
Manufacturing Research
To build structures in space we need to combine technologies such as additive manufacturing (which has been extensively studied and applied in LEO) and more traditional manufacturing processes such as materials forming and heat treatment. Perhaps most importantly, the joining of different materials. Traditional welding processes on Earth will have to be adapted for use in space, where the absence of gravity and the presence of vacuum pose unique challenges but also open doors to new processes. Developing welding techniques suitable for space conditions is essential for assembling and repairing spacecraft, habitats, and other infrastructure during extended missions or future space colonies. One unique aspect that can be explored is the re-use of space debris which, in many cases, consists of high-value materials such as aerospace alloys which could be re-used to build new structures.
Robotics Research
Highlighted Manufacturing Centers
Manufacturing and Materials Joining Innovation Center (Ma2JIC)
The Ohio State University (Lead), collaborating with the University of Dayton, Central State University, Agile Ultrasonics LLC, Lincoln Electric, and NanoRacks, is undertaking the commercial space in low earth orbit project titled "Structural Materials Joining in Space." This project focuses on the development of autonomous metals and polymer welding technology for space applications, addressing fundamental challenges and constructing a prototype to support future research for the In-Space, Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) sector.
Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing; Moving from Evolution to Revolution (HAMMER)
Development of fully robotic metal forming and heat treatment with combined AI and ML technologies. HAMMER aims to be able to manufacture anything, anywhere, anytime -with an emphasis on remote locations away from traditional supply chains such as warships deployed offshore, airfields in isolated locations, and space stations.
Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME)
HAMMER is housed in CDME at OSU which has a 10-year history of building prototype manufacturing solutions to solve industry problems. A fully autonomous AI/ML facility already exists (photo). The goal is to develop a more compact version to house in the Starlab Ground Location -US within the Carver Science Park at KOSU.
Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS)
Whenever new materials and new manufacturing processes are created and used, the first challenge is to find out the actual structure and chemistry of the material and the consequences of the manufacturing process. CEMAS is the nation’s largest and best-appointed facility for the characterization of materials on the atomic scale. CEMAS has >$40M of Thermo-Fisher Scientific instruments, each of which is fully accessible online and has already been used to investigate single crystals made on the ISS.
Related Faculty in the Field
Steve Ringel
IMR Executive Director and Assoc VP, The Ohio State University
Michael Mills
Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Jay Sayre
Assistant Vice President in the Office of Research and the Director of Innovation for IMR