A Centrifugal Casting Rig Using Rotation for Mould Filling in Orbit: Rotational Energy, Artificial-Gravity and Thermal Budgets

This paper presents a computed design study, SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED, for cylindrical bushings, ring gears and axisymmetric housings in orbit, using molten aluminium-silicon alloy from a resistance melter. The operating principle is distinct from neighbouring production methods: a mould mounted at the rim of a 1.2 metre rotor is spun so that centrifugal acceleration, rather than gravity, drives molten metal outward and holds it against the mould wall while it freezes. In orbit this replaces the gravity head that terrestrial foundries rely on, and it produces dense, directionally solidified cylinders. The distinctive cost is rotational: spin-up energy, bearing loads and the vibration isolation the host platform requires. Sizing follows from budgets computed in the accompanying script rather than from analogy with terrestrial equipment. The headline figures are a specific energy of 2.05 megajoules per kilogram of product, an installed electrical power of 3.6 kilowatts, a production rate of 6.31 kilograms per hour, and an annual throughput of 5e+04 kilograms over 330 operating days. Rejecting 1.98 kilowatts of waste heat at 335 kelvin requires 3.15 square metres of radiator, a photovoltaic supply requires 8.82 square metres of array, and the installed mass is 720 kilograms. Moving feedstock from a 400 kilometre to an 800 kilometre orbit costs 217 metres per second of velocity change. The study is a computed study with no targeting or weapon application; it concerns civilian production equipment only, and none of its figures is a measurement.