Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
CMC Control Surface Designs
Project Description
As space exploration and hypersonic cruise technologies develop, the focus has shifted towards the development of lightweight, fully reusable and lower cost vehicles. The current state-of-the-art (SOA) is taking an incremental improvement step over the Space Shuttle TPS approach. All-ceramic matrix composite (CMC) body flaps developed for the X-38 vehicle were shown to offer considerable mass savings as well as increased durability and impact resistance. The next step in advancing the state of the art is to increase the confidence in the design and manufacturing quality of a full CMC control surface for hypersonic vehicles. Within this effort, Materials Research & Design (MR&D) is proposing a trade study which will investigate various control surface manufacturing and material options for the ruddervator design of X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. For the proposed Phase I program, MR&D has chosen an integrally fabricated all-CMC control surface, a mechanically fastened-individually fabricated fully-CMC control surface, and a CMC sandwich structure control surface to be the three candidate design structures in a trade study. Potential material candidates include, but may not be limited to, CVI C/SiC, C-C with 1-2 SiC cycles for oxidation protection, S200 Nicalon/SiNC from ATK COIC, and SiC/SiC.
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Anticipated Benefits
The technology proposed in the Phase I program will also be of direct interest to the Department of Defense (DOD) to support the development of hypersonic missiles, and maneuvering reentry bodies. The results are also expected to be of direct interest to programs including the USAF Common Aero Vehicle, and the DARPA Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle.
The technology developed here will directly support the design of existing and future NASA space exploration vehicles. The next step in the development of fully-CMC control surfaces for hypersonic vehicles is to develop technology that will increase the reliability of reusable launch vehicles with the ultimate goal of offering comparable safety and reliability as commercial aircraft. More »
The technology developed here will directly support the design of existing and future NASA space exploration vehicles. The next step in the development of fully-CMC control surfaces for hypersonic vehicles is to develop technology that will increase the reliability of reusable launch vehicles with the ultimate goal of offering comparable safety and reliability as commercial aircraft. More »
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials Research and Design, Inc. | Lead Organization | Industry | Wayne, Pennsylvania |
Ames Research Center
(ARC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Moffett Field, California |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
California
-
Pennsylvania
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.