9500179 Mehra This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project develops an advanced multivariable adaptive control system for hot isostatic pressing (HIP) operations in the fabrication of metal matrix composites (MMCs). Phase I computer simulations indicated response times, shorter by a factor of three, of the new system over standard proportional-integrative-derivative techniques. The new system controls temperature and pressure profiles in a HIP furnace using modern control techniques of Model Predictive Control and Risk Sensitive Optimal control. The Phase II project focuses on a test of the prototype system at a large HIP furnace facility operated by Industrial Materials Technology, Inc. in Andover, MA. The new approach to furnace control has potential for large savings in argon gas usage and electric power, for higher yields of MMC products, such as titanium matrix SiC fiber composites, and for more reliable environmental/health monitoring.
