Engineering the Properties of Additively Manufactured Hypersonic Structures Through Control of Chemi
Abstract
Accelerated development and deployment of hypersonic systems is among the highest priorities of various DoD agencies as there is a p,ressing need to maintain technological leadership in this critical battlefield capability. The US Army and Navy expects that future,wars will require thousands of precision hypersonic munitions, which is currently not feasible with existing systems costing tens to, hundreds of millions per unit. ?Affordable hypersonic? platforms are needed and the overarching challenge for the development of t,hese low-cost hypersonic cruise missiles is the ability to utilize and manufacture ultra-high temperature refractory metals and allo,ys into complex geometric shapes to form structures that can be seamlessly integrated with other components to ensure reliability an,d optimized performance. Development of advanced manufacturing processes that are compatible with refractory metals, Ni-base superal,loys, Ti-alloys and other high temperature structural materials is criticalfor enabling the design of affordable hypersonic platform,s. Recent advances in process modeling, instrumentation, materials testing and characterization techniques have enabled an improved,fundamental understanding of the underlying physics that limit the performance of additively manufactured metals and alloys intended, for use at elevated temperatures. This proposal aims to justify the acquisition of a state of the art, laser powder bed fusion (LP,B-F) 3D printer, laboratory scale spray atomization system for producing powder feedstock, a vacuum furnace for post fabrication hea,t treatment and an X-ray diffractometer that will be used for materials and structure characterization. This equipment will contribu,te to the creation of a strategic and truly unique Center for Extreme Materials that will enable the faculty at the University of Ar,izona who are engaged in research programs that are relevant to DoD to develop new alloys specifically for additive manufacturing pr,ocesses and evaluate their properties unprecedented speed. The ability to produce novel chemistries of powder feedstock for LBP-F s,ystems, fabricate structures in the 3D printer, heat treat the as-built structures in a controlled environment, and characterize the, structure and phases present in the microstructure in a single facility will confer strategic capabilities that will support variou,s DoD programs. Moreover, the ability to rapidly evaluate the properties of additively manufactured structures as a function of chem,istry and microstructure will accelerate the development of databases that can be used to train and develop machine learning algorit,hms for process optimization and materials discovery. The system will support various on-going and planned projects pertaining to un,derstanding (i) mechanisms of oxide agglomeration in oxide-dispersion strengthened refractory alloys; (ii) the effect of alloy chemi,stry and laser processing parameters on grain structure formation during post process heat treatment; (iii) high temperature strengt,h and creep properties of additively manufactured refractory and refractory high entropy alloys; (iv) the ability to develop a low c,ost route for LPB-F processing of aerospace components and structures via the use of irregularly shaped and larger size distribution,s of powder feedstock.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 07, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212809
Entities
People
- Sammy Tin
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Arizona