High-Temperature, Full-Field Strain Mapping of Ceramic Matrix Composites for Aero-Engine Components

Continuous fiber-reinforced ceramics are an emerging class of materials that offer considerable potential for increasing weight-specific performance while reducing fuel consumption and enhancing the durability of advanced aero-turbine engines. The need for high-temperature, low-density materials is critical to the successful design and manufacture of innovative engine components that result in improved system performance while reducing cost of manufacture. Due to the anisotropic behavior of CMC materials, the distribution of strains induced from applied thermo-mechanical loads within the body of a CMC structural component is exceedingly difficult to quantify. The successful implementation of CMCs for selected components in turbine engines is reliant upon the ability to accurately resolve these strain fields in order to both calibrate and validate predictive models used in their analytical design. This proposed effort will demonstrate an innovative technique for measuring full-field strains on geometrically complex CMC components at elevated temperatures. The Phase I program will address the benefits and limitations of the technique by performing full-field strain measurements on CMC test coupons at ambient temperature. A Phase II program would further demonstrate the ability to perform full-field strain measurements on CMC test coupons and representative structural components at elevated temperatures. BENEFIT: The development of CMC components for turbine engines will allow for higher operating temperatures and increased performance. The successful implementation of full-field high-temperature strain measurement capabilities will promote a more comprehensive understanding of CMC material behaviors, allowing for more intelligent, robust, and predictable design of components and promoting more confident acceptance and implementation of CMCs by turbine engine OEMs