Case Study: FAST Aerospace accelerates ramjet testing with Protolabs

FAST Aerospace accelerates ramjet testing from weeks to days with Protolabs

FAST Aerospace, an aerospace startup, needed to manufacture a liquid-fuel ramjet combustor capable of withstanding temperatures over 2,000°C for testing. Their challenge was producing complex components like the flame holder with internal cooling channels rapidly, as traditional manufacturing would have been too slow and restrictive for their tight development schedule. They partnered with Protolabs to leverage its digital manufacturing services.

Protolabs used Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) in Inconel 718 and CNC machining to produce the critical hardware. This solution enabled design iterations in days instead of months, reduced lead times for test hardware, and allowed the creation of complex internal geometries not feasible with traditional methods. The successful ramjet firing tests provided valuable data, accelerating FAST Aerospace's hypersonic propulsion development.

FAST Aerospace