C-SiC Honeycomb for Advanced Flight Structures

The proposed project is to manufacture a C-SiC honeycomb structure to use as a high temperature material in advanced aircraft, spacecraft and industrial applications. The proposers will fabricate a carbon fiber honeycomb structure. The structure will be charred and then converted to C-SiC by means of chemical vapor infiltration. The resultant material will then be tested mechanically at ambient, at high temperature and then at ambient after high temperature exposure.

The resultant material would be adaptable to industrial applications, especially those currently utilizing silicon carbide. The high density of silicon carbide could be mitigated by utilizing SiC honeycomb.

The resultant material should be an excellent structural material for hypersonic aircraft. In any area requiring high mechanical performance at temperatures above 2000F, the resultant material would outperform any currently-available honeycomb.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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