LYNNTECH INC. — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: N22A-T019

Description

Silicon carbide (SiC) based ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are now being introduced as ultra-high temperature materials in gas turbine engines or hypersonic applications due to their high thermal conductivity and excellent stability at such temperatures.  However, compared to the superalloy materials that they are targeted to replace, these CMCs are much less understood due to a much more complex microstructure.  In order to improve the service life of SiC based CMCs for military's gas turbine engine or hypersonic applications, the Navy seeks to study the effect of additives on  thermal, mechanical and physical properties of the SiC based CMCs through computational-directed and experimentally validated design approach.  Improvement in these properties along with enhanced oxidation resistance is targeted with the project.  Lynntech has teamed with Prof. Zi-Kui Liu from Penn State University to develop the SiC CMCs with desired properties.  Penn State will act as the computational lead to study the effects of composition on phase stability and key properties in ceramic matrices such as thermomechanical and thermochemical behavior with and without the application of additives as a function of temperature.  Lynntech will identify suitable additives and perform experimental validation of the concepts/compositions modeled to develop desired SiC CMC materials with enhanced oxidation resistance and improved thermal, mechanical and physical properties for Navy.