Rosatom Masters Copper 3D Printing for Aviation and Space

Copper is one of the most useful metals in aerospace and energy, and it has been one of the hardest to 3D print. Rosatom says its nuclear specialists have cleared the hurdle on industrial RusMelt printers.

The breakthrough rests on laser parameter selection. Copper reflects laser beams efficiently and dissipates heat quickly, which makes it difficult to form consistent melt pools during selective laser melting. Rosatom's fuel division reports that it identified processing modes for layer-by-layer melting of copper powder grade M2 that achieve minimal porosity and preserve the high thermal conductivity the material is known for.

What they printed

Test samples, heat exchanger elements, and gyroid structures were produced on RusMelt industrial machines. Metallographic studies in Rosatom's laboratories confirmed the parts passed structural checks. The gyroid lattice structures, which mimic the complex internal channels found in nature, are positioned as radiator grilles and cooling elements.

Where it could be used

The immediate applications are thermal management systems for aviation and space. Copper heat exchangers printed as single components can replace assemblies that require brazing or multi-piece fabrication. Internal cooling channels that are impossible to machine can be printed directly into gas turbine engine parts.

Rosatom specifically mentions rocket engines and onboard electronics cooling as targets. The combination of high thermal conductivity and low structural weight is hard to match with conventional manufacturing in those environments.

Import substitution angle

Rosatom frames the capability within Russia's import substitution push in aviation. Complex internal cooling channels in gas turbine components have historically relied on foreign suppliers or processes that are difficult to replicate under sanctions. Additive manufacturing with copper removes some of that dependency by letting domestic producers print the geometries in-house.

The company also sees longer-term use in power electronics and high-frequency devices, where copper's electrical and thermal properties are equally valuable.

Why it matters

Copper additive manufacturing has advanced in labs for years, but industrial production has been limited by repeatability. Rosatom's claim is not just that a sample printed once, but that the process is repeatable on production-class RusMelt systems with consistent metallurgical results.

If the technology scales, it could make copper a more common material in metal AM shops that have historically stuck to titanium, stainless steel, and aluminum because those materials are more forgiving in powder bed fusion. For aerospace and space programs that need every gram of weight savings and every watt of thermal performance, that is a meaningful expansion of the material set.