HYBRID MMC MATERIALS FOR JOINING OF THERMALLY MIS-MATCHED MISSILE COMPONENTS DEVELOPMENT

THIS PHASE I PROGRAM WILL DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY OF UTILIZING HYBRID METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES (MMC) ON SELECTED NAVY MISSILE STRUCTURES WHERE TWO STRUCTURES, OR SUBELEMENTS OF MARKEDLY DIFFERENT C.T.E. MUST BE ATTACHED. THE UNIQUE ABILITY OF TAILORING VARIOUS MMC'S TO ACHIEVE LOW, INTERMEDIATE, OR HIGH THERMAL-EXPANSION CAPABILITY WHILE CREATING HIGH SPECIFIC MECHANICAL PROPERTIES--FORMS THE BACKBONE OF THIS PROGRAM. SICNE RING STRUCTURES TYPIFY A NOMINAL MISSILE PART, FEASIBILITY WILL BE SHOWN BY FABRICATION AND CTE TESTING OF A HYBRID AXIAL SEGMENT (VIZ. OF A HOOP OR RING STRUCTURE) THAT WILL HAVE LOW (CERAMIC-LIKE) THERMAL DISTORTION ON ONE END, AND A CTE THAT MATCHES THE SUPERALLOY AT THE OPPOSITE END, ALL WITHIN A 3" LENGTH. CONTINUOUSLY REINFORCED GR-METAL AND ISOTROPIC, DISCONTINUOUSLY REINFORCED DWA WILL MAKE UP THE HYBRID. PHASE I WILL EMPHASIZE ALUMINUM MATRICES; PHASE II (HIGHER USE TEMPERATURES) WILL ALSO INCLUDE GRCOPPER.