Silicide Coatings for Surface Morphing Interceptors

Materials Research & Design, Inc. (MR&D) is pleased to submit this proposal to Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) topic MD241-010: Strain Tolerant Coatings / Coating Architectures. In the proposed effort, MR&D will consider silicide coating systems developed by Plasma Processes, LLC (PPLLC) to offer oxidation protection on morphing surfaces of future interceptors. PPLLC will fabricate a thick coating of the candidate silicide from which tensile specimens will be extracted. Half of the specimens will be heat-treated (HT) to promote grain growth, improve material ductility, and increase strain capability. Kratos SRE (KSRE) will then perform tensile testing on the silicides at room and elevated temperatures to demonstrate the target 5% strain capability. The strain capacity of the baseline and HT coatings will be compared to confirm the influence of grain size on ductility, which will be explored in future efforts. The stress-strain curves will serve as input to a finite element model (FEM) of a coated carbon-carbon morphing control surface. A transient heat transfer analysis will be performed to obtain operational temperatures and gradients. These temperatures will then be superimposed onto a structural model to compute thermal stresses and plastic strains within the coating. MR&D will then compare the plastic strains from the model to the strain failure data to assess flightworthiness of the coating. And finally, PPLLC will coat a 2D carbon-carbon to demonstrate adherence to a high temperature composite substrate. Approved for Public Release | 24-MDA-11906 (16 Sep 24)