Non-oxide Ceramics for Advanced Heat Engine Applications

The development of advanced heat engines to produce more fuel efficient, lighter weight and cleaner systems has involved investigations of a broad range of advanced ceramic materials. The Advanced Gas Turbine Program has demonstrated the capability of non-oxide ceramics such as sintered silicon carbide and sintered silicon nitride as useful materials for gas turbine applications. Recent material developments on a particulate toughened silicon carbide offer improvements in fracture toughness and reliability. Property studies on an improved sialon material indicate promising performance in high temperature strength retention and long term stability.

In this paper, design aspects, fabrication status, and testing results of advanced non-oxide ceramic components are presented. Issues key to practical manufacturing requirements for technical and commercial success are discussed.