Trends in the Design and Analysis of Components Fabricated From CFCCs

Continuous fiber ceramic composite materials (CFCCs) are being considered for an increasing number of commercial applications. They provide the potential for lighter, stranger, more corrosion resistant components that can perform at higher temperature for long periods of time. Global competitiveness demands a shortening of the time for CFCC commercialization. Thus considerable effort has been expended to develop and improve the materials, and to a lesser extent, to develop component design methods and data bases of engineering properties. To shorten the time to commercialization, project efforts must be integrated, while balancing project resources between material development and engineering design. Currently a good balance does not exist for most materials development projects. To rectify this imbalance, improvements in engineering design and development technologies must be supported and accelerated, with a focus on component issues. This will require project managers to give increasing emphasis to component design needs in addition to their current focus on material development.