Fiber-Reinforced Superalloys For Rocket Engines
High pressure turbopumps for advanced reusable liquid propellant rocket engines such as that for the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) require turbine blade materials that operate under extreme conditions of temperature, hydrogen environment, high-cycle fatigue loading, thermal fatigue and thermal shock. Such requirements tax the capabilities of current blade materials. Based on projections of properties for tungsten fiber reinforced superalloy (FRS) composites, it was concluded that FRS turbine blades offer the potential of a several fold increase in life and over a 200 C increase in temperature capability over the current SSME blade material. FRS composites were evaluated with respect to mechanical property requirements for SSME blade applications. Compared to the current blade material, the thermal shock resistance of FRS materials is excellent, two to nine times better, and their thermal fatigue resistance is equal to or higher than the current blade material. FRS materials had excellent low and high-cycle fatigue strengths, and thermal shock-induced surface microcracks had no influence on their fatigue strength. The material also exhibited negligible embrittlement when exposed to a hydrogen environment.
A review of advanced metallic and ceramic materials suitable for high temperature use in space structures
Abstract Spacecraft, satellites and launch vehicles require efficient, lightweight structural materials. At present, the structural requirements can be largely met by aluminium alloys and polymeric matrix composites based on carbon fibres. However, increasingly there will be a need to specify materials capable of sustaining operational use at temperatures in excess of 250°C and towards 2000°C. Ambitious spaceplane projects such as Hermes, HOTOL, Sanger, HOPE and NASP have highlighted this need. Within the operational temperature band 250°C to 2000°C various metallic and ceramic materials are appropriate for consideration, either in alloy or composite form. This review paper identifies the status of technology on the following: 1. i) Aluminium and titanium alloys and their composites. 2. ii) Superalloys and their composites. 3. iii) Carbon, glass-ceramic and ceramic matrix composites. The development of more weight efficient and thermally stable metallic and ceramic materials has centred on a number of key areas(1). For metallics, improved alloy composition and grain refinement from Rapidly Solidified Powders have given improvements in strength retention at high temperatures(a). The introduction of reinforcements, either particulate, whisker or continuous fibre, have improved the basic alloys by reducing density, increasing stiffness and strength and extending thermal capabilities. Monolithic ceramics possess thermal stability but are inherently brittle and crack sensitive. The addition of ceramic fibres and whiskers has the effect of modifying fracture characteristics by introducing “pseudo-ductility” to raise apparent toughness. In the foreseeable future the emerging high temperature materials will find uses in: Spaceplane substructures and control surfaces; Thermal protection systems and insulation; Propulsion plants and thruster units; Air breathing engines.
EL TRATAMIENTO NEOPRAGMATISTA DE LA VERDAD EN RICHARD RORTY NEOPRAGMATIST TREATMENT OF TRUTH IN RICHARD RORTY
Richard Rorty, one of the most influential authors of our time, presents a critique of the philosophical concept of truth as correspondence. The conclusion of Rorty's neopragmatism is that the idea of truth as correspondence between language and facts is ineffective because it no longer works. The neopragmatist conception of truth indicates the only possible uses for the term «truthful,» revolving around the idea of jus - tification. In this article, the neopragmatist notion of truth is presented in order to