PROJECT APN002

Ceramic Matrix Composite Components for Hypersonic Flight

Hypersonic vehicles that travel at least five times faster than the speed of sound require materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures caused by aerodynamic heating.

This project tackles one of the big issues facing hypersonic flight – high temperature material integration – seeking to develop the next generation of high temperature ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) tailored to such flight applications.

CMCs are a rare class of material in that they are extremely lightweight and have exceptional heat resistance – typically competing attributes. UQ will assist with manufacturing process development, characterisation, and design, to help identify appropriate and cost-effective CMC materials.

The resultant materials will then be integrated into a Hypersonix DART AE vehicle for flight testing. The project is also exploring novel net shape and short cycle time manufacturing methods for CMCs.

ACM CRC Research Programs

Project Partners

Hypersonix Launch Systems
The University of Queensland (UQ)

Project Leaders

Associate Professor Michael Heitzmann - UQ

Year commenced

2023

Our DART AE vehicles have the most demanding thermalstructural requirements. There is no better vehicle to put the project’s innovative outputs to the test. Our Engineering team are excited to be collaborating with ACM CRC and UQ to deliver outcomes that could see Hypersonix competing internationally, and Australia at the forefront of international space technologies.