We just test fired a 20,000 horsepower AI-generated rocket engine

This copper 3D-printed 5kN rocket thruster was built through our Large Computational Engineering Model Noyron, without human intervention. We went straight from the specs to a 3D-printable object. The generation sequence takes about 15 minutes. The thruster uses cryogenic Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Kerosene as propellant. It is regeneratively cooled through cooling channels with a 1mm cross section that swirl around the volume of the combustion chamber, to prevent it from melting (the exhaust gases are 3000ºC hot). The injection is done using a state-of-the art coaxial swirl injector. The test was performed at the UK testsite of Airborne Engineering. The print was produced by German metal Additive Manufacturing company AMCM. We worked in close collaboration with the UK Race to Space team at @universityofsheffield , who provided valuable feedback and prepared the engine for the test campaign. @SamRogers was instrumental in helping to bring about the test and pushed us to go for “serious“ rocket propellants. The engine worked nominally, including a long duration burn that reached steady-state. It survived the test campaign without a scratch and will be tested further. We have a wealth of testing data that we will feed back into Noyron to improve the computational model. The engine was generated using our #PicoGK #opensource geometry kernel. #additivemanufacturing #3dprinting #generativeai #rocketengine #rocketry #3dprint #opensource