Method of fabricating space satellite tank components utilizing additive manufacturing and spin forming

A method of forming metallic structural features in a specific region of a thin wall spinformed metallic tank shell, the method comprising:

• forming a thin wall metallic tank shell blank by spinforming a metal sheet over a mandrel;
• removing the tank shell blank from the mandrel;
• mounting the blank in an additive manufacturing system configured to perform powder based and wire based direct metal deposition processes;
• and
• adding the metallic structural features to the tank shell according to a 3D model stored in memory in the additive manufacturing system wherein the features are added outside and inside of the metallic tank shell and wherein the features added to the tank shell comprise at least one of:
• (a) polar bosses added to one or both external polar regions of a spherical section of the tank;
• (b) mounting tabs on a circumferential skirt of the tank;
• (c) mounting rings containing threaded holes attached to the interior or exterior surface of the tank;
• (d) mounting trunnions attached to the external surface of the tank;
• (e) propellant management features attached to the interior surface of the tank;
• (f) structural reinforcement vanes and ribs attached to the inside surface of the tank;
• and
• (g) brackets and/or shelves attached to the inside surface of the tank.