Jul 7, 2026

US12674650 - Integrated additive manufacture (AM) of explosive payloads

Integrated Additive Manufacture (AM) of explosive payloads including both energetic and non-energetic components is achieved by controlling the AM processes such that a temperature of any deposited energetic material is bounded below and away from the energetic material's onset temperature to avoid detonation or decomposition of the energetic material during manufacture. This constraint places requirements on the selection of the energetic materials, the AM processes and 3D printer systems for depositing the non-energetic materials and the final composition and density of the non-energetic components.

Assignee: Raytheon Company
Inventors: Shawn S. Coffee, Christopher F. Williams, Jude Sprouffske, Mark W. Olles, Ian D. Stochl
Filing date: 2025-03-18

explosivepayloadadditivemanufacture

The patent describes a method for manufacturing explosive payloads using additive manufacturing processes that carefully control temperatures to prevent detonation or decomposition of energetic materials. It involves a layer-by-layer deposition of both energetic and non-energetic components, ensuring that the energetic materials remain below their onset temperature during production.

Claim 1

1 . A method of manufacturing an explosive payload, the method comprising: using one or more additive manufacturing processes to selectively deposit energetic and non-energetic materials in a layer-by-layer sequence to build at least one energetic component and at least one non-energetic component, in which a first portion of at least one said non-energetic component and a first portion of at least one said energetic component are built in a common layer and a second portion of at least one said non-energetic component is built on a top surface of a second portion of at least one said energetic component, wherein the energetic material has an onset temperature at which the energetic material may detonate; and controlling the additive manufacturing process that is used to build the at least one said non-energetic component such that a temperature of any deposited energetic material is bounded below and away from the energetic material’s onset temperature to avoid detonation or decomposition of the energetic component during manufacture. using one or more additive manufacturing processes to selectively deposit energetic and non-energetic materials in a layer-by-layer sequence to build at least one energetic component and at least one non-energetic component, in which a first portion of at least one said non-energetic component and a first portion of at least one said energetic component are built in a common layer and a second portion of at least one said non-energetic component is built on a top surface of a second portion of at least one said energetic component, wherein the energetic material has an onset temperature at which the energetic material may detonate; and controlling the additive manufacturing process that is used to build the at least one said non-energetic component such that a temperature of any deposited energetic material is bounded below and away from the energetic material’s onset temperature to avoid detonation or decomposition of the energetic component during manufacture.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12674650

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12674650