Additive manufacturing of an ALSI40 mirror coated with electroless nickel for cryogenic space applications

Advanced Manufacturing (AM) has the potential to improve existing technologies and applications in terms of performance, light-weighting and costs. In the context of the SME4ALM initiative, launched by DLR and ESA, the company Kampf Telescope Optics GmbH (KTO) in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (IWS) have assessed the feasibility of AM to build a high-performance optical mirror for space applications. For the assessment of the AM potentials, a mirror design concept for cryogenic instruments for observations in the IR and NIR range was baselined. In a second step, Nickel-Phosphorus (NiP) was selected as optical coating. The combination of coating and mirror material is a primary design driver for optical performance. Both materials must have a very similar CTE as well as be compliant to modern optical manufacturing (diamond turning, polishing). As a promising candidate for NiP coating the AlSi40 was selected for the mirror structure. The potential advantages of AM for optical mirrors in terms of mechanical performance, cost, and manufacturing time were exploited. The achievement of those objectives was / will be demonstrated by: 1. verifying AM material properties and manufacturability of AM mirrors by material sample tests and subcomponent tests 2. designing AM mirror demonstrator by structural, thermal, and optical performance analysis 3. applying and elaborating AM specific design methods (topology optimization, sandwich structures with internal microstructures, monolithic design, etc.) 4. manufacturing, assembling, and testing AM mirror demonstrator to verify manufacturability and optical performance 5. comparing optical and mechanical performance of the AM mirror demonstrator to a conventional mirror by numerical analysis to exploit potential advantages of AM.