University of Sheffield
Students at the University of Sheffield have created a liquid rocket engine, similar to the kind used by space companies such as SpaceX, using 3D printing. The ‘SunFire’ engine, developed by a team of engineers and science students, is the first metallic 3D printed liquid rocket engine to be built and successfully tested by students in the UK according to the university.
The engine, which the university says is the most powerful student-built engine of its type, uses both fuel and an oxidiser rather than breathing in oxygen like a jet engine. The uni says that it is also the first that is regen-cooled, an engine that uses fuel to cool the combustion chamber before it is burnt, which increases efficiency and saves weight.
The Sheffield students have successfully hot fired the engine as part of a week-long competition called Race to Space, in which teams of students from universities around the UK tested rocket engines that had been built over the past two academic years.
According to the university, the Race to Space competition is also believed to have set an unofficial world record itself, for the number of different hybrid/liquid rocket engines hot-fired for the first time on one site in one week.
The university says that there are only a handful of liquid rocket engines made by students throughout Europe and even fewer regen engines worldwide, and until now, ‘none in the UK’ made by 3D printing or as powerful as the engine built by the students at Sheffield.
The engine was built by the students over the last two years outside of their studies as part of the University of Sheffield’s Space Initiative, a programme to help STEM students use their skills to tackle some of the space industry’s biggest challenges and help them develop careers in the industry after graduation.
Students in the team, which is known as 'Sunride', hope to eventually use the engine to power one of their own rockets to the edge of space, and become the first UK student-led team to launch beyond the Kármán line. The Kármán line borders Earth’s atmosphere 62 miles above sea level. The team already holds the UK altitude record for an amateur rocket, which was achieved in 2019.
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The team says that the University of Sheffield’s Royce Discovery Centre, a research facility developing next-generation materials to meet UK manufacturing needs, was ‘instrumental’ in trialling the laser-powder-bed metallic 3D printing that was used to build the engine. The engine was machined after printing by the university’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Faculty of Engineering.
Henry Saunders, PhD student in 3D printing at the University of Sheffield’s Royce Discovery Centre, who led the team last year said: “The hot fire test of our engine was a day I’ll never forget. From coming up with the idea in a coffee shop with two friends over two years ago it was amazing when we finally got to fire our rocket engine! Being involved in the SunFire programme provided me with an opportunity to take the engineering science I had learned about in lectures and translate these learnings into a real world practical application.
“This for me was where the real excitement and learning reinforcements came from, not just seeing a rocket engine on a PowerPoint slide with some equations next to it, but actually being involved in building a rocket from scratch. The equations only get you so far, the real learning, for me, came from trying things, failing and then eventually succeeding.”
Engineering graduate and former Sunride Project Manager, Dana Arabiyat, now working at Rolls-Royce said: “Two years and countless hours of hard work later, the successful hot-fire of our engine got us jumping for the most unforgettable five seconds of our lives! This achievement is a testament to the incredible talent and commitment of our Project SunFire team members and leads, and to the tireless mentorship and supervision of Dr. Alistair John.”
Dr. Alistair John, Deputy Director of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield, who supervised the team said: “Additive manufacturing is increasingly being used by rocket companies such as SpaceX as it allows you to build complex, lightweight custom geometries that would not be possible using traditional methods. For example, the cooling channels in our engine, which stop the engine melting despite the 2,000°C combustion temperature, can only be made using 3D printing.
“Extra-curricular activities such as SunRide and the Race to Space initiative are hugely important as they allow students to apply the knowledge from their degree and push the boundaries of what they can achieve. It is hugely important for the UK space sector that we give our students hands-on, practical experience to develop the skills industry needs.”
The SunFire engine was test fired at Airborne Engineering at the Westcott Space Cluster and 3D printed at the Satellite Applications Catapult.
