SPARTA SYSTEMS, INC, PROPOSES A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE (MMC) SUPERALLOY WITH MATERIAL PROPERTIES IN THE 200 DEGREE (F) TEMPERATURE RANGE WHICH ARE SUPERIOR TO EXISTING METALS.

SPARTA SYSTEMS, INC, PROPOSES A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE (MMC) SUPERALLOY WITH MATERIAL PROPERTIES IN THE 200 DEGREE (F) TEMPERATURE RANGE WHICH ARE SUPERIOR TO EXISTING METALS. THE OBJECJTIVES OF THIS STUDY ARE TO DEVELOP THE MATERIAL AND TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES AND SYSTEMS IMPLICATIONS OF MANUFACTURING REENTRY VEHICLE AIRFRAME COMPONENTS FROM THIS MMC MATERIAL. THE RESULTS OF THIS MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT STUDY WILL BE COMPARED WITH EXISTING HIGH TEMPERATURE STEELS. THE STUDY APPROACH IS AS FOLLOWS: (1) INITIALLY IDENTIFY TYPICAL GENERIC COMPONENTS ON A REENTRY VEHICLE (RV) AIRFRAME STRUCTURE THAT FUNCTIONS IN THE 1500 TO 2000 DEGREE (F) TEMPERATURE RANGE AND ESTABLISH A SET OF FEASIBLE MATERIAL PROPERTIES GOALS; (2) PERFORM PARAMETRIC PREDICTIONS OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES USING SEVERAL ANALYTICAL FORMULATIONS AND VARIOUS CONSTITUENTS AND THEIR PROPORTIONS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY; (3) FABRICATE A BILLET(S) OF THE MATERIAL(S) USING A POWDER METALLURGY PROCESS WITH PARTICU LATE REINFORCEMENT DEVELOPED BY TRW; (4) EVALUATE THE RESULTING MATERIAL AND COMPARE THE RESULTS TO OTHER EXISTING HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERALLOYS WITH REGARD TO MATERIAL PROPERTIES, MANUFCTURING COST, POTENTIAL GROWTH AND LIMITATIONS, ETC.; AND (5) DOCUMENT THE RESULTS IN A FINAL REPORT.