Aerospace’s groundbreaking work in additive manufacturing just received significant recognition from the broader technical community. The team of Kevin Qu, Leland Shimizu, Jacob Rome and Vinay Goyal from ETG's Structural Mechanics Subdivision received the prestigious Collier AerospaceHyperX AIAA Structures Best Paper Award at the AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 for their paper on Digital Twins of Additive Manufacturing Parts for Fatigue Life Prediction.

The team’s innovative approach tackles a major challenge: fatigue cracking can limit the use of additive manufacturing (AM) for producing critical space parts like liquid rocket engines. In simple terms, tiny flaws from the AM process can lead to unexpected failures over time. The new approach creates a “digital twin”— a real-time computer model of a part—that predicts when and where fatigue might occur, even as the part is being built. This allows engineers to know early on if a part will last or if it needs repair.

How This Innovation Helps?

The digital twin method combines data from nondestructive testing, fracture mechanics, and uncertainty quantification to provide real-time feedback during the design and printing process.

“Fatigue has always been one of the big hurdles with additive manufacturing. Our digital twin approach gives designers a clear, real-time picture of a part’s strength,” said Qu, project leader in the Structures Department.

This means that designers can evaluate the chance that a part will meet fatigue life requirements right from the start. Manufacturers can decide on the fly whether to continue printing, pause for repairs, or scrap a part before wasting further resources.

“With our method, manufacturers can quickly decide if a defect needs fixing during printing, which saves both time and money,” said Shimizu, engineering specialist in the Structures Department.

By speeding up the “design-test-print-acceptance-redesign-reprint” cycle, this innovation has the potential to lower costs and accelerate production—a boon for reusable launch systems.

What is Ahead?

While the initial results are promising, the team acknowledges that further work is needed. Continued investments in research and development, more in-situ nondestructive testing data from printer OEMs, and an integrated open-source framework are essential next steps.

“This technology is a gamechanger for meeting fatigue life requirements," said Rome, senior project leader in the Structures Department. "It lets us catch issues early, which is critical for reliable, reusable launch systems; but continued investments are needed to accelerated integration with OEMs.”

By utilizing digital twins, Aerospace is not only advancing the technology behind additive manufacturing but also paving the way for safer, more economical reusable launch systems.

“Our approach can streamline the entire process—from design through to finished hardware—making additive manufacturing much more agile and efficient," said Goyal, principal director of the Structural Mechanics Subdivision.

This award highlights a critical milestone in the journey toward more agile and reliable space hardware production. This new approach is set to transform the way we think about space-rated parts, ultimately contributing to more successful and cost-effective launches.