Solid-State Cold Spray for Rapid Defense Sustainment

Advanced/Additive Manufacturing

Problem Statement: Department of War sustainment and production teams need faster, more adaptable methods to manufacture, repair, and qualify high-value metallic components when legacy supply chains, thermal joining processes, and long fabrication cycles cannot keep pace with mission requirements. This is especially important for propulsion and aerospace hardware, where design changes, dissimilar-metal interfaces, and performance requirements can delay test and fielding.

Description of the Innovation Solution: Titomic Kinetic Fusion™ (TKF)™ is a solid-state, non-thermal cold spray additive manufacturing process that accelerates metal powders to supersonic velocity and bonds them through kinetic energy rather than melting. For the demonstrated solid rocket motor application, TKF™ was incorporated into two primary hardware elements: a steel nozzle with copper facing and a titanium casing. The approach used robotic cold spray path planning for complex geometries, direct bonding of dissimilar metals, and targeted mechanical properties comparable to wrought product, followed by post-processing and final machining for test-ready hardware.

Benefits to the DoW: TKF™ enables rapid design iteration, repair, and life extension of mission-critical metallic components with minimal distortion and no heat-affected zones. The demonstrated program showed approximately 95% deposition efficiency, reducing waste while supporting lower fabrication cost, shorter production time, and more resilient supply chains. For warfighter readiness, those reductions translate into faster support to theater operations and a credible path toward point-of-need manufacturing. The same platform is relevant beyond this demonstration, including thrust chambers and propulsion components, hypersonic leading edges, missile and armament components, artillery barrel liners and structural repairs, lightweight pressure vessels, and copper bands.

Innovation Challenges: The principal challenge is transitioning an advanced manufacturing process into qualified defense use where repeatability, traceability, certification, material performance, and operator-to-operator transferability matter as much as part performance. Titomic addresses this through a manufacturing and sustainment platform designed around process control, quality pathways, and readiness for aerospace, defense, maritime, and space customers.

Technical Maturity/Demonstration Results: The technology has progressed beyond concept. The nozzle and casing underwent final machining and assembly for testing, successfully experienced full pressure loading for propellant discharge, and withstood hot-fire testing in the thrust chamber. The October 2025 Hot-Fire demonstration validates TKF™ as a practical, mission-relevant additive manufacturing pathway for rapid sustainment and production of high-value defense hardware.