Development of Radiation Tolerant Additively Manufactured Refractory Compositionally Complex Alloys

The next generation of space exploration will see much greater involvement of nuclear technologies, such as nuclear propulsion and surface-based power reactors, which will see high neutron fluxes and operating temperatures approaching 3000 °C, requiring improved materials. Compositionally complex alloys (CCAs) are a new class of alloy that have exhibited enhanced radiation tolerance with high temperature stability and strength, while Refractory CCAs (RCCAs) possess the high melting points required for spacenuclear applications but are significantly understudied. Furthermore, additive manufacturing has also received significant investment for the flexibility it offers in creating complex geometries for optimized performance with fewer parts, in manufacturing with materials difficult to traditionally manufacture, and in creating prototype or replacement parts while on mission. Therefore, this project seeks to develop RCCAs with this desired high temperature strength and radiation tolerance that are able to be additively manufactured. A new laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) printer developed specifically for printing high quality RCCA samples will be leveraged for high throughput testing by irradiation in the UW Ion Beam Laboratory and characterization in the UW Nanoscale Imaging and Analysis Center. 100 alloys will be screened for a number of properties relevant for a targeted NTP application, such as density, thermal conductivity, radiation tolerance, and others. The most promising candidates will go through multiple rounds of iteration to produce alloys optimized for the target application that can be studied in greater detail by NASA.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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