Optimized Pre-preg System for Affordable CMCs

High temperature composite materials required for propulsion and high speed vehicle systems are produced with specialized labor intensive base material systems.  Physical Sciences Inc. will use commercially available high strength carbon fiber to create a standardized fiber/resin base material (“pre-preg”) system for the manufacture of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). The pre-preg system will be able to create woven fabric, tow and tape pre-preg forms suitable for hand lay-up, fiber placement or tape braiding of complex shaped CMC components.  During the program we will demonstrate that using alternative carbon fibers will increase the strength to weight ratio of carbon fiber reinforced CMCs and reduce the production cost by as much as 1/3 compared to our standard CMCs produced with legacy T300 carbon fiber. We will also perform an economic analysis to analyze the acquisition cost of CMC components using the developed standardized pre-preg system and evaluate the impact on component production rate.