EVALUATION OF A MMC WING FOR THE SPARROW

A NEW LOW COST CASTING METHOD HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO PRODUCE SILICON/ CARBIDE ALUMINUM (SIC/AL) WITH INEXPENSIVE RAW MATERIALS AND CONVENTIONAL FOUNDRY TECHNIQUES. LIMITED MATERIAL TESTS AND COST PROJECTIONS INDICATE THAT SIC/AL POSSES MANY CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE IT A DESIRABLE MATERIALS ALTERNATIVE TO TITANIUM ALLOYS FOR MANY APPLICATIONS. RELATIVE TO COMMONLY UTILIZED TITANIUM ALLOYS, INCREASES IN SPECIFIC STIFFNESS OF 50 PERCENT WITH COMPARABLE SPECIFIC STRENGTH CAN BE OBTAINED. LIMITED HIGH TEMPERATURE TESTING HAS REVEALED THAT HIGH TEMPERATURE STRENGTH AND STIFFNESS IMPROVEMENTS ARE POSSIBLE WHILE EXTENDING THE OPERATING RANGE OF THE BASE ALLOY UP TO 100 DEG F. ONE APPLICATION IN WHICH CAST SIC/AL HAS POTENTIAL BENEFITS IS IN THE FABRICATION OF WINGS AND/OR FINS OF THE SPARROW. THIS LOW COST PROCESS OF METAL MATRIX FABRICATION COULD PRODUCE WINGS OR FINS THAT HAVE SUFFICIENT STRENGTH AND RIGIDITY TO MEET DESIGN REQUIREMENTS WHILE PROVIDING SUBSTANTIAL COST BENEFITS OVER MATERIALS SUCH AS TITANIUM. AN ANALYTICAL EVALUATION OF A CAST SIC/AL SPARROW WING WILL BE CONDUCTED. ANALYSES WILL INCLUDE A THERMAL RESPONSE ASSESSMENT, MODAL AND FLUTTER ANALYSES AND A STRUCTURAL RESPONSE ANALYSIS. IN ADDITION, A SMALL CASTING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY OF FABRICATING A COMPONENT, SUCH AS A SPARROW WING FROM CAST SIC/AL.