Unit-Cell Approach for C/C Process and Mechanical Modeling

The properties of carbon-carbon composites often exhibit significant variability due to variations in processing conditions and spatial variations inherent in the material structure of fabric-reinforced composite materials. The proposed Phase I program will address these issues, and will identify, develop, and demonstrate novel methods for simulating the processing and mechanical response of C/C materials throughout the fabrication process that will account for spatial variation in material structure and variations in processing conditions. The effort will include: 1) manufacturing of representative C/C plates via a phenolic impregnation process; 2) gathering of micro-CT data to determine as-fabricated material structure; 3) measurement of selected material properties at various stages of processing; 4) demonstration and correlation of cure, pyrolysis, and mechanical response models that utilize detailed composite unit cell definitions of the C/C material as defined via micro-CT.