AI searched 100 million possibilities and found a cheaper way to 3D-print a NASA rocket alloy

Researchers used AI to search through more than 100 million possible settings for 3D-printing a high-performance NASA alloy. After only 40 experiments, the system identified six successful configurations, including one that worked at a record-low 500 watts. That could allow GRCop-42, currently difficult and expensive to print, to be made with much more widely available equipment.

AI searched 100 million possibilities and found a cheaper way to 3D-print a NASA rocket alloy. AI searched 100 million possibilities and found a cheaper way to 3D-print a NASA rocket alloy | Science News from research organizations AI searched 100 million possibilities and found a cheaper way to 3D-print a NASA rocket alloy Date: August 27, 2026 Source: Washington State University Summary: Researchers used AI to search through more than 100 million possible settings for 3D-printing a high-performance NASA alloy. Share: Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email FULL STORY AI searched more than 100 million possibilities to find a cheaper, lower-power way to 3D-print a NASA rocket alloy.

Credit: Shutterstock Washington State University researchers have used artificial intelligence to identify a faster and less costly way to 3D print a high-performance metal alloy, avoiding the need to manually test more than 100 million possible printing configurations. The advance could eventually make the alloy, which is widely used in aerospace applications and may have uses in other industries, printable on more common commercial equipment. The AI strategy developed by the team could also be useful for other scientific problems involving enormous numbers of possible experiments, including drug discovery.

Researchers from WSU’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering published the work in the Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.