Accelerating Mission Readiness With Hybrid Reinforcement of Silicon Carbide Carbon (SiC-C) Heat Shields for Hypersonics and Atmospheric Reentry

A challenge to expansion of the nation's hypersonics industrial base lies in the cost of hypersonic weaponry. In Oct 2021, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Heidi Shyu, noted that “...we need to figure out how to drive towards more affordable hypersonics.” In Jan 2023, the Congressional Budget Office reported that “Hypersonic missiles could cost one-third more to procure…”, and that “the fundamental remaining challenge involves managing the extreme heat that hypersonic missiles are exposed to…shielding hypersonic missiles’ sensitive electronics, understanding how various materials perform...” A significant materials cost component of a hypersonic vehicle is in its aeroshell thermal protection system, which must protect the technology inside the vehicle, while sustaining large inertial and aerodynamic loads in an extremely corrosive and ablative environment, with temperatures that can be as high as 5000°F. A challenge to reducing cost and time in manufacturing these materials lies in a manufacturing process referred to as “densification”, which involves a time consuming sequence of repeat steps that are necessary to reduce the number of voids (tiny air spaces) in the material that can be sources of component failure during operation.  Endeavor Composites, Inc. designs and fabricates novel high-performance composites for customers in building and construction, automotive, energy, consumer goods, and aerospace. Endeavor’s flagship patented technology is a unique process for producing high-performance composites that can be manufactured significantly faster and cheaper than incumbent products. Recently, Endeavor developed a unique “hybrid” composite formulation for customers requiring cost-effective high strength-to-weight solutions in the construction and automotive sectors. Endeavor is proposing the adaptation of its hybrid design to develop a new type of ceramic matrix composite (CMC), consisting of a non-woven ceramic fiber reinforcement, overlaid with a woven skin for enhanced ablation resistance and mechanical performance. If selected for the AFX235-CSO1 Phase II, Endeavor will develop the manufacturing process for its hybrid CMC to meet or exceed requirements for hypersonic and reentry vehicle thermal protection systems, but manufactured at several times the rate and around 50% the cost.