A custom-built furnace that can heat materials to almost 3000 degrees Celsius has been installed at The University of Queensland, to build components for Australia’s space industry.
The furnace is the first of its type in Australia, allowing UQ researchers to make the next generation of ultra-high temperature composite materials for hypersonic flight.
Hypersonic vehicles travel more than five times faster than the speed of sound and have to be made from materials that can withstand the extremely high temperatures caused by aerodynamic heating. The new furnace will allow UQ's Research Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) to develop and produce these materials.
“We are working directly with industry to identify appropriate and cost-effective high temperature ceramic matrix composites, or CMCs, tailored to hypersonic flight applications. In areas like a rocket nozzle or a hypersonic vehicle, the temperatures we’re talking about approach those only seen on the surface of the sun," said Associate Professor Michael Heitzmann.
“We are trying to get the utmost temperature resistance out of our material and find the most thermal-resistant materials possible. We are pioneering CMC manufacturing in Australia – it is a rare class of material because it’s extremely lightweight and has exceptional heat resistance.”
The components made in the German-manufactured furnace will be used by companies such as Brisbane-based aerospace manufacturer Hypersonix Launch Systems, which specialises in hypersonic technology and scramjet engines.
Hypersonix Manufacturing Lead Sam Grieve said the UQ team would produce an engine part for the DART AE, a three-metre-long, single-use vehicle, powered by a hydrogen-fuelled SPARTAN scramjet engine, as they now have the capability to produce high quality CMC’s with temperature resistance not previously possible in Australia.
“The insert is in a part of the engine that could be subjected to temperatures more than 1300 degrees Celsius, due to hypersonic flows and shock waves. Normal metal alloys would fail at that temperature, so we need high-performance lightweight materials to ensure the engine will survive in flight," said Grieve.
“This is a very important sovereign capability and an important puzzle piece in establishing an Australian space and hypersonics industry. The ultimate goal for Hypersonix is a multi-mission autonomous vehicle capable of delivering satellites to orbit while producing no CO2 in its exhaust. Our Engineering team is excited to be working with UQ to deliver outcomes that could see Hypersonix competing internationally, and to see Australia at the forefront of international space technologies.”
The CMC components will be manufactured within UQ’s AMPAM Research Centre using a range of fabrication techniques including use of a newly acquired filament winding machine, where carbon fibre threads are wound onto filament reels and fed onto a rotating mandrel to make ultra-lightweight and strong components.
The furnace will also be used to produce 3D-printed materials for bio-medical applications, battery materials and a new generation of renewable carbon fibres.