Ceramics and Composites for Beryllium Replacement

Beryllium is a lightweight, highly temperature-stable, stiff and strong material that has proven to be excellent for extreme duty, dimensionally critical applications such as mirror structures for space-based optics. Beryllium, however, is expensive andextremely hazardous. Beryllium dust is one of the most toxic substances known, and causes Chronic Beryllium Disease, and cancer. There is a push by federal and local government regulatory and health agencies to phase-out all beryllium use by 2007.Ceracom's novel Metal-Ceramic Matrix Composite (MCMCTM ) materials are safe and affordable, and meet or exceed the mechanical characteristics of beryllium for critical defense and aerospace applications. Ceracom proposes to leverage its proprietary ENVITtechnology, developed to manufacture advanced CMCs, and expertise in ceramic materials to develop affordable and high performance MCMCTM materials to replace Be and Be base alloys. Ceracom has already established base processing and materials, and anextensive database has been developed with NASA and Air Force under major programs such as Integrated High Performance Rocket Technology (IHPRPT), and Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET). These MCMCT materials meet or exceed theattributes of beryllium, including stiffness, hardness, strength, stability, fatigue-resistance, in a broad range of temperatures from cryogenic to 1500C. The current market for beryllium based materials for performance drivent applications is quitesignificant, while there are many commercial applications that would benefit from a high performance material like beryllium but the health problems proibit insertion. Ceracom's novel MCMCTM materials can be directly inserted into the beryllium basedcomponents and will offer a higer performance alternative for commercial applications that would like to use beryllium.