TOUGHENED LOW PERMEABILITY C-SIC ROCKET THRUSTER

Ceramin Composites is please to propose an innovative ceramic composite sheath-monolithic ceramic concept that offers the potential for a tough, low permeability rocket thruster. A previous Phase I SBIR program demonstrated that exceptional damage tolerance and strength improvements could be achieved by bonding a thin SiC/SiC composite skin (0.5mm) to a 3mm monolithic Reaction Bonded Silicon Nitride (RBSN) core. An equally exciting result was the discovery that sandwich beam mechanics theory could be used to predict the failure loads. A systematic fabrication approach is outlined for a 5 lbf C fiber SiC composite-monolithic SiC rocket thruster. Bonding a thin C fiber reinforced SiC skin to a tough SiC internal shell could enable diver propulsion thrust to avoid effusion leakage at chamber pressures previously not attainable.