Ceramics for Turbine Engine Applications.

The importance of advances in high temperature materials technology to progress in aerospace is well recognized. For example, improved materials and/or the design and fabrication approaches to use them provide broad opportunities to increase the performance or durability, or to reduce the cost of turbine engines. One specific approach being investigated in several NATO nations involves high temperature ceramics and the associated design technology for using brittle materials. Ceramics are also being actively explored for turbines for other uses such as in automobile engines and electric power generators. Many of these have progressed into first generation attempts to design, fabricate and test actual components, and it is appropriate to try to 'take stock' of the results, to evaluate the implications for aerospace applications, and to identify deficiencies in the 'state-of-the-art' and directions for future emphasis. Since the effective use of ceramics will require an extremely close interaction between materials and design, it is particularly important to provide forums which promote close cooperation between the engine community and the materials community. A specialists Meeting on 'Ceramics for Turbine Engine Applications', to accomplish the above objectives, was thus organized by a subcommittee of the Structures and Materials Panel with the extensive cooperation and participation of the Propulsion and Energetics Panel.