Storage Heater Material Optimization

High temperature storage heaters are needed to provide clean, hot air for aerodynamic and propulsion testing of hypersonic vehicles. Vitiation heaters do not properly simulate the vehicle flight conditions, thus limiting the ability to develop tomorrow's aircraft in a timely manner. Yttria-zirconia storage heater development work was sponsored by the Air Force in the 1960's, but did not produce an economically viable material because important details of the phase behavior of the material's crystalline structure was not known at that time. The proposed SBIR effort will use the results of recent research on yttria-stabilized zirconia to identify improved yttria-zirconia material compositions, define suitable storage heater operating conditions, and evaluate life cycle costs to establish a sound basis for development of optimum heater materials. The work will be carried out by FluiDyne with consulting assistance from St.-Gobain Norton Industrial Ceramics Corporation. FluiDyne and Norton are world authorities on the application of ceramic materials to high temperature storage heaters.