Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloys Enhanced with Gamma Prime for High-Rate, Low-Cost Production of High-Performance Engine Components

The conventional development of gas turbine hot-section hardware emphasizes high-performance properties such as creep resistance, fatigue resistance, and high-temperature strength. These properties are achieved through expensive alloying additions and time-intensive post-processing techniques. This approach is increasingly incompatible with current demands, particularly in the context of drone warfare where cost-effective manufacturing takes precedence over long-term reliability. This proposal addresses these evolving priorities by accelerating the deployment of a low-cost, additively manufactured, dispersion-strengthened nickel-based superalloy, specifically tailored for high-pressure turbine blisks in attritable gas turbines.The proposed solution leverages oxide dispersion strengthening (ODS), which substitutes expensive alloying elements with cost-effective and readily available oxide nanoparticles. This material innovation targets specific performance requirements while maximizing production speed and minimizing costs through mitigating supply chain vulnerabilities. The project will produce several significant outcomes: (1) Development of a high-temperature, 3D-printable dispersion-strengthened Ni-based alloy. This alloy will be free of expensive alloying additions, reducing material costs without sacrificing necessary high-temperature performance. (2) Optimization of additive manufacturing processes. Process modeling will be employed to establish printing parameters that simultaneously meet performance criteria, enhance production rates, and minimize manufacturing expenses. (3) Creation of a framework for the rapid insertion of additively manufactured components in critical DoD applications. This effort will streamline the transition of new materials and manufacturing methods into production environments, with an emphasis on sustainment operations.This proposal builds on more than four years of research initiated at the Aerospace Materials and Structures Laboratory at MIT, under Office of Naval Research (ONR) contract N00014-22-1-2036, and continued through a recent MIT spinout, Top Grain Technologies (TGT), under National Science Foundation (NSF) Phase I SBIR 2335531. Key technological achievements supporting this effort include:Development and commercialization of a baseline ODS superalloyA predictive modeling framework for oxide structure formation during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of ODS alloysComplementary efforts on LPBF processing of turbine rotors for the U.S. Air Force's ROSE engine.