Case Study: University of Minnesota achieves 3D-printed rocket engine breakthrough with Protolabs

Engineering students prepare 3D-printed rocket engine for launch

The University of Minnesota’s LPRD Rocketry team, led by aerospace student David Deng, was working to design and build a liquid-fuel rocket engine that could scale up to 1,000 newtons of thrust while solving the major challenge of cooling a very small combustion chamber. They needed a manufacturing method capable of creating an internal regenerative cooling channel that conventional machining could not easily produce. Protolabs supported the student team with 3D-printed metal manufacturing for the rocket engine component.

Protolabs produced the engine using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) in Inconel 718 and worked with the students to optimize the design for printability, including reshaping the cooling channel and adjusting angles to eliminate supports. The result was a lightweight, highly complex rocket engine with internal cooling channels that could only be made with additive manufacturing, giving the team a functional prototype and valuable hands-on experience. The collaboration helped the University of Minnesota students move closer to ground testing and eventual launch.

University of Minnesota