Andy Hardin, SLS liquid engines subsystem manager, compares creating a rocket engine part with traditional manufacturing and welding vs. Selective Laser Melting.
Andy Hardin, SLS subsystem manager for liquid engines, compares the process of creating a rocket engine part using traditional manufacturing and welding, at right, and making one using Selective Laser Melting, or SLM, at left. The new z-baffle for the RS-25 engine was created by fusing metal dust with a high-power laser using the machine in the background.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC