Formable, Discontinuous Preforms for Advanced Ceramic Matrix Composite Hypersonic Structures

Pepin Associates, Inc. has developed an aligned, discontinuous fabric reinforcement which can stretch in its reinforcement direction to allow complex shapes to be formed from simple preform starting shapes. This reinforcement is useful to more efficiently manufacture polymer matrix (PMC) and ceramic matrix composite (CMC) parts. During the proposed DLA sequential Phase II STTR program, the Pepin team will perform several tasks to improve fabrication of the fabric itself and make carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix (CSiC) test articles. These test articles will support a test program to reveal thermal and mechanical characteristics. These properties will be input into analytical models which will help identify aeroshell, nozzle and other advanced structures which could benefit form the unique forming characteristics of this fabric.