NASA has developed a new superalloy called GRX-810 that is twice as strong and over 1,000 times stronger than state-of-the-art 3D-printed superalloys. The high temperature alloy can be used to create stronger and more durable parts for aircraft and spacecraft. NASA has demonstrated a breakthrough in high-temperature 3D printing materials that could lead to stronger, longer-lasting parts for aircraft and spacecraft.

A team of innovators from NASA and Ohio State University detailed the properties of the new GRX-810 alloy in a peer-reviewed article published in the journal Science. Nature.

of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, lead author of the Nature article. “This superalloy has the potential to significantly increase the strength and durability of components and parts used in aerospace exploration,” said Tim Smith. Smith and colleague Glenn Christopher Kantsos invented the GRX-810.

Smith and his team used time-saving computer modeling and a laser 3D printing process that fuses metals layer by layer to create the new alloy. They used this process to create the NASA logo pictured above.

This turbine engine combustion chamber (fuel-air mixer) has been 3D printed at NASA Glenn and is an example of a complex component that could benefit from the new GRX-810 alloys. Credit: NASA

GRX-810 is an oxide dispersion reinforced alloy. In other words, small particles containing oxygen atoms dispersed throughout the alloy increase the strength of the alloy. Such alloys are excellent candidates for aerospace parts for high-temperature applications such as in-flight and rocket engines, as they can withstand harsher conditions before reaching the point of failure.

Modern 3D-printed superalloys can withstand temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Compared to these, the GRX-810 is twice as strong, over 1000 times stronger, and twice as resistant to oxidation.

“This new alloy is a big breakthrough,” said Dale Hopkins, deputy director of NASA’s Transformation Tools and Technologies project. “In the very near future, this may be one of the most successful technology patents ever created by Glenn NASA.”

The Nature paper was co-authored by a collaborative team from Glenn, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Ohio State University. The GRX-810 was developed as part of the Transformational Tools and Technologies project with support from NASA’s Game-Changing Development Program.