Low Cost Manufacturing of Composite Nozzles with Integral Insulators

"In this phase I SBIR program, a team consisting of Advanced Ceramics Research, Inc. (ACR) and the University of Delaware (UD) propose the development of an innovative process for novel, high temperature non-eroding nozzle designs with an in-situ insulationlayer. This novel design concept will be fabricated using a patented technology at UD. The ceramic material will be structurally sound and tough due to the fiber reinforcement and thermally insulting. ACR proposes that this fabrication technique willreduce the cost of production of parts without compromising the strength of the component compared to current state-of-the-art techniques such as CVI. In this phase I program, the ACR led team will prove the concept and fabricate test panels formechanical testing and macrostructural characterization. ACR will also provide a preliminary cost/economic analysis for prototype components. Low cost, lightweight, high temperature structural ceramic composite, such as nozzle and thruster components, withintegral thermal protection will be extremely useful to the DoD. If successful, this program will have demonstrated process feasibility for the fabrication of novel high temperature non-eroding nozzle designs with an in-situ insulation layers. ACRestimates that on a per pound basis, these nozzles will be at least an order of magnitude lower in cost and could be fabricated in 50% of the time taken currently. Such low-cost nozzle designs are esse