CMC Combustor Liner

Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC's) offer substantial weight reductions over metallic components, increasing vehicle range and/or payload, as well as reducing cooling flow requirements, thereby increasing overall engine performance and enabling high supersonic flight. Many CMC's exhibit higher mechanical strength characteristics than metals at temperatures exceeding 1600°F. However, CMC's are not homogenous materials, and therefore, their strength is design and part specific. Because of the inter-dependence between design and strength, it is proposed that CMC development be coordinated between the material developer, the designer, and the manufacturer of CMC components. This Phase I program incorporates a team approach, including propulsion system designers and material developers, to develop an innovative CMC combustor liner. This program focuses on developing the design methodology, preliminary design definition, and feasibility demonstration. In the Phase II program, the CMC combustor liner will be tested to validate the design analysis approach, address shortfalls in the material characteristics database, and address (and reduce) high-risk areas due to shortage of data and modeling techniques.