RESEARCH NEWS
BMW demo fleet for diesel replacement fuels
The BMW Group used its presence at the“ Fleet Europe Days” on 22 and 23 October 2025 in Luxembourg to show fleet operators ways to decarbonise their fleets. In addition to fully electrified vehicles, the focus was on fuels based upon renewable raw materials, so-called Carbon Neutral Fuels( CNF).
“ Their advantage: the potential to save CO₂. With more than 250 million existing vehicles in Europe, their CO₂ footprint can be improved if the proportion of renewable fuels is increased. A new technical solution used by the BMW Group is proof that all BMW diesels in a fleet are fuelled exclusively with HVO100. Refuelling data from the vehicle is compared with data from the fleet operator’ s payment system. This means that the fuel used by the vehicle can be traced seamlessly. This is an important step towards a‘ CNF-only fleet’ for fleet customers,” said BMW.
“ Initial contractual agreements with the operators of large BMW diesel fleets in Germany and Italy are imminent. These test fleets, together with the internal BMW Group fleet that has already been launched, will
BMW X1 sDrive 18d.
provide important data and findings for further improvement of the technical solution,” added BMW.
The abbreviation HVO stands for‘ Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil’ and the suffix
‘ 100’ indicates that it is filled with 100 per cent pure fuel. n
www. bmwgroup. com
NASA printable metal“ takes the heat”
GRX-810 is a new metal alloy developed by NASA for 3D printing parts that can withstand the extreme temperatures of rocket engines, enabling the affordable printing of high-heat parts, writes Margo Pierce of NASA.
Until now, additive manufacturing( or 3D printing) of engine components was limited by the lack of affordable metal alloys that could withstand the extreme temperatures of spaceflight. Expensive metal alloys were the only option for 3D printing engine parts until NASA’ s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio( USA), developed the GRX- 810 alloy.
The primary metals in the GRX-810 alloy include nickel, cobalt and chromium. A ceramic oxide coating on the powdered metal particles increases its heat resistance and improves performance. Known as oxide dispersion strengthened( ODS) alloys, these powders were challenging to manufacture at a reasonable cost when the project started.
However, the advanced dispersion coating technique developed at Glenn employs resonant acoustic mixing. Rapid vibration is applied to a container filled with the metal powder and nano-oxide particles. The vibration evenly coats each metal particle with the oxide, making them inseparable.
A metallic cast of the NASA insignia. Half of the disk is silver, while the other half is ablaze, subjected to high heat.
Even if a manufactured part is ground down to powder and reused, the next component will have the qualities of ODS.
“ The benefits over common alloys are significant; GRX-10 could last up to a year at 2,000 ° F under stress loads that would crack any other affordable alloy within hours. Additionally, 3D printing parts using GRX-810 enables more complex shapes compared to metal parts manufactured with traditional methods,” said NASA.
Elementum 3D, an Erie, Colorado-based company, produces GRX-810 for customers in quantities ranging from small batches to over a ton. The company has a co-exclusive license for the NASA-patented alloy and manufacturing process and continues to work with the agency under a Space Act Agreement to improve the material.
“ A material under stress or a heavy load at high temperature can start to deform and stretch almost like taffy,” said Jeremy Iten, Chief Technical Officer, Elementum 3D.“ Initial tests done on the large-scale production of our GRX-810 alloy showed a lifespan that’ s twice as long as the smallbatch material initially produced, and those were already fantastic.”
Commercial space and other industries, including aviation, are testing GRX-810 for additional applications. For example, one Elementum 3D customer( Vectoflow) is testing a GRX-810 flow sensor. Flow sensors monitor the speed of gases flowing through a turbine, helping engineers optimise engine performance. However, these sensors can burn out in minutes due to extreme temperatures. Using GRX-810 flow sensors could improve airplane fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and hardware replacements, said NASA. n
https
:// spinoff. nasa. gov /
14 | ismr. net | ISMR February 2026