NIOBIUM ALLOY (C-103) REACTION CONTROL SYSTEM (RCS) CHAMBERS HAVE BEEN USED ON NUMEROUS NASA PROGRAMS. HOWE…

Public award description

NIOBIUM ALLOY (C-103) REACTION CONTROL SYSTEM (RCS) CHAMBERS HAVE BEEN USED ON NUMEROUS NASA PROGRAMS. HOWEVER AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES, THE STRENGTH OF C-103 DECREASES SIGNIFICANTLY. HIGHER STRENGTH NIOBIUM ALLOYS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED, BUT THESE ALLOYS LACK THE FORMABILITY OF C-103. RECENTLY, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURE (AM) OF NIOBIUM AND C-103 HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED USING POWDER BED ELECTRON BEAM MELTING (EBM). A PRIMARY ADVANTAGE OF AM PROCESSING IS ITS ABILITY TO PRODUCE COMPLEX COMPONENTS TO NET SHAPE ALONG WITH THE INCORPORATION OF UNIQUE FEATURES. HOWEVER, EBM-AM PROCESSING OF NIOBIUM AND C-103 RESULTS IN ELONGATED, COLUMNAR GRAINS, WHICH REDUCE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AS COMPARED TO A COLD WORKED MATERIAL. THEREFORE, THE POTENTIAL EXISTS TO DEVELOP AND FABRICATE A HIGHER STRENGTH NIOBIUM ALLOY BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE NET-SHAPE FORMING CAPABILITY OF AM PROCESSING AND CIRCUMVENT THE LACK OF FORMABILITY OF SUCH HIGH STRENGTH ALLOYS. TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF EBM-AM PROCESSING HIGH STRENGTH NIOBIUM ALLOYS, A PARAMETERS-CHARACTERIZATION-PROPERTIES STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED DURING PHASE I. DURING PHASE II, THE EBM-AM PROCESSING OF HIGH STRENGTH NIOBIUM ALLOYS WILL BE OPTIMIZED AND EXTENSIVE MATERIALS PROPERTIES TESTING WILL BE CONDUCTED. THE MOST PROMISING RESULTS WILL THEN BE USED TO PRODUCE A HIGH STRENGTH NIOBIUM ALLOY RCS CHAMBER.