Microstructural Model of Carbon-Carbon Structures for Hypersonic Applications

As vehicle and weapon system speeds and temperatures increase, there is a greater reliance on ceramic matrix composites (CMC), such as 2-D and 3-D carbon/carbon (C/C) composites. These composites are comprised of anisotropic carbon fiber yarns and tows within a carbon matrix. The fiber architecture (both within a fabric layer and between layers) can greatly influence the construction and performance of the composite. Currently, much of the material properties of a small subset of the fiber-reinforced ceramic composite are known through sample testing, both ground testing and flight testing. However, there currently are not good models that can accurately predict the composite performance utilizing the contribution of the constituent components. Therefore, the Navy is interested in the development of peridynamic mesoscale models that can improve performance and reduce cost by reducing the need for excessive prototyping and testing. Such models will determine viable mission profiles, the engineering design margins possible, performance boundary conditions, system lethality, and ultimately the possible concept of operations for a given materials system. Triton Systems proposes to develop, mature, and validate peridynamic mesoscale models with ground testing to verify model outputs from the constituent materials properties within the composite. Triton Systems will utilize the constituent materials data to produce a thermal and structural model framework that yields the anisotropic / orthotropic behavior of the composite system. The goal of the models will be the ability to design and predict the performance of the CMCs of interest. The model's performance will be validated with experimental data. Parametric analysis results of constituent property changes will also be completed.