This 965-Part 3D Printed Jet Engine Actually Works

Count this one under one of the coolest engineering class projects, ever.

JetX, an aerospace student team founded by University of Glasgow President Chris Triantafyllou, is currently working with Rolls Royce (yes, THAT car company) to make the world’s first working 3D printed jet engine.

Aptly named the X-Plorer 1, the engine measures in at 75cm long with a diameter of 27cm, and weighs a total of 8.1kg. Over 50 student engineers are working to make over 965 printed parts, 300 fasteners, and ten integrated sensors that make up the final and functional assembly.

Taking into consideration the different loading conditions and forces exerted on the engine, CFS analyses are conducted using tools like Solidworks Flow Simulation, ANSYS Fluent, and Star CCM+. Additionally, the JetX team conducts finite element analyses to check if the printed engine will function properly under different loading conditions.

Once the initial tests are complete, the parts are crafted via an FDM 3D printer using different 3D printing materials including PLA, ABS, PETG, and Nylon. The smallest part of the X-Plorer 1 takes about seven minutes to print, while the main engine casing takes a whopping 58 hours to complete.

As to be expected, 3D printing the one-offengine parts is a heck of a lot cheaper, faster, and allows the JetX team to easily change parts in case better optimization opportunities present themselves.

The X-Plorer 1 features a custom-built Engine Monitoring System (EMS) with a purpose-built software and user interface. The entire system is made up of wireless transceivers, 2 microcontrollers, temperature sensors, LED speed sensors, a vibration sensor, a differential pressure sensor, and an airspeed sensor.

The engine itself is electronic and completely fireless, making adjustments and analyses a lot easier. This leaves room for various improvements and lets the students experiment with their knowledge of aerospace engineering. Eventually, Chris hopes to turn the project into a competition between universities; where different schools will compete to make the most efficient engine possible.

The X-Plorer 1 isn’t the only thing JetX is working on. The team is already conceptualizing the upcoming X-Plorer 2 and a low bypass turbofan known as the Kronos. Be sure to check in on the team’s progress over at their team website.

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