CMS Post-Machined Injector

Our injector is 3D printed by an outside vendor, but like all 3D printed components, it needs to be post-machined to get the required surface finishes and dimensions. This version was made out of 316 stainless steel, but future iterations will be made from 718 inconel. 

This one required quite tricky workholding, as the injector was polished and welded by the propulsion lead. The warping from the welding and polishing meant there was now no flat surface on the entire part to clamp onto. To fix this, the injector was bolted to a custom fixture plate and an endmill contoured the side to get a flat cylindrical surface. Custom soft jaws were machined to this new diameter to hold onto the part for facing operations.

The facing operation used a 2" face mill with wiper inserts to get an extremely flat and smooth surface finish, adequate for o-ring sealing. Then smaller endmills were used, alongside manual machine probing, to post-machine each of the individual injector elements.