RAY-TRACING TOOL OPTIMIZED FOR PRO/ENGINEER GEOMETRY

Not Available Currently the first generation of hypersonic vehicles are being developed and built. Even at their relatively low design speeds, e.g. MACH 7 for ARRMD, they are pushing current material technologies to the extreme. In order to reach the next performance levels, materials which withstand higher temperatures and better resist oxidative environments must be developed. This Phase I research proposes to develop an advanced ceramic matrix composite (CMD) with superior properties to C/SiC, which is presently thermally limited for many potential applications. Using a low-cost rapid densification process, mixed HfC/SiC matrix CMCs will be fabricated in one seventh the time and one tenth the cost taken to fabricate CMCs conventionally. In addition, the density of the final composite will be >90% and the HfC/SiC matrix CMCs will offer considerable oxidation protection - far superior to C/SiC. This technology is low-cost and is focussed at producing high performance CMCs for use in hypersonic applications such as coatings and leading edges.