Award

Hypersonic vehicles demand innovations in component manufacturing with high-temperature materials to survive extreme environmental conditions while retaining performance. Novel alloys are needed to reach use temperatures beyond current Nickel-based superalloys. Refractory alloys offer promise for higher operating temperatures but must maintain a balance of high specific strength, creep, and oxidation resistance to enable adoption. Materials Sciences and the University of Pittsburgh are developing an additive manufacturing process for a refractory multi-principal-element alloy (RMPEA) with superior properties above 1000C. The process will be paired with the design and optimization of a metamaterial, comprised of topology optimized lattice structures, to reduce weight and cost, and increase the overall specific strength via volumetric performance.Ý