SINTX Advanced Composites for Hypersonics
Our team at SINTX is excited to be able to support the DOD’s effort to “accelerate the advancement of hypersonics capabilities in the United States.” SINTX’s recent acquisition of Technology Assessment & Transfer (TA&T), with more than 30 years’ experience in this arena, has enabled us to contribute to this vital work.
Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) and barrier coatings are critical components of hypersonic systems. TA&T performed their first CMC efforts in 1992 and began to tailor high temperature CMC materials in 2001 for the HY-Fly Dual Combustion Scramjet Hypersonic Cruise Missile concept and Waverider programs funded by DARPA and the Navy. More recent advanced CMC programs that have extended TA&T’s capabilities include “Unique Fabrication Process and Strategy for Complex Flight Structures”, “Enhanced Oxidation Resistant Graded C-Carbide CMC via Rapid CVI Process” and “Rapid Process for UHT CMC Thermal Protection Systems” funded by DARPA, Air Force, and MDA, respectively.
Our team is currently working on a DARPA Phase II SBIR “CMC Combustor on the Path to 3100°F” that includes an ultra-high temperature Thermal Environmental Barrier coating to enable gas turbine inlet temperatures up to 3,100°F. This goal is shared across the DoD Laboratories, turbine engine, and aerospace OEMs. The technology also has potential applications in industrial gas-turbine power plants and hypersonic vehicles.
US DOD release on the Presidential Determination regarding materials for Hypersonics can be found here.