Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Reusable Rocket Engines
Speaker
Zachary Cordero
Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
About This Talk
High-performance reusable rocket engines recently developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin, and newer ones in development for low-cost heavy-lift launch vehicles will enable next-generation space economics and accessibility. Unlike expendable rocket engines, which are optimized for reliability, weight and fuel efficiency, reusable rocket engines must also consider the competing criteria of re-entry and reusability. Challenges include temperature swings from cryogenic levels to over 2,000 degrees Celsius, high pressures and heat fluxes, and ultra-high-pressure oxygen environments. These give rise to potentially catastrophic failure modes, from metal fires and oxidation-assisted fatigue to strain-ratcheting-driven rupture. Legacy materials were used to design and fabricate current reusable rocket engines.
Companies are now racing to update technology and develop new platforms, but the challenges are formidable and require collaborative teams. At the same time, there are exciting opportunities to apply modern design and development tools and to exploit huge advances in materials over the past 20 years to specifically tailor materials to meet the extreme environments of reusable propulsion systems. This talk will describe the work of MIT AeroAstro’s Zachary Cordero and his group along these lines, leveraging modern materials design, advanced manufacturing, and computational design tools to develop and manufacture the specialized materials that will power the future of spaceflight.
About the Speaker
Zachary (Zack) Cordero is the Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, where he leads the Aerospace Materials and Structures Laboratory. He received a BS in physics and a PhD in materials science and engineering from MIT. Before joining the MIT faculty, Zack held appointments as a postdoctoral fellow in the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and an assistant professor in the Materials Science and NanoEngineering department at Rice University. His research at MIT seeks to enable frontier aviation and space platforms through advanced materials, manufacturing, and structures.
About the MSE Seminar Series
The Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Seminar Series features distinguished speakers from leading institutions, offering a platform for sharing groundbreaking research, innovative ideas, and entrepreneurial experiences. Held multiple times each semester, these seminars bring global perspectives world to MIT’s materials research community, exposing students, faculty, and postdocs to cutting-edge concepts and valuable networking opportunities.