This award supports Dr. Vladimir Hlavacek of the Laboratory for Reaction and Ceramic Engineering of the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY/B) in a research collaboration on metal matrix composites with Dr. B.F. Lux of the Institute for Inorganic Materials Technology of the Technical University of Vienna. The ultimate goal of the collaboration between these two laboratories is to develop a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process for manufacturing of ceramic fibers with good mechanical properties and high values of thermal expansion coefficients. Current work by the SUNY/B group on CVD of titanium diboride, titanium carbide or boron carbide on a carbon core is one of the promising routes to manufacture an inorganic fiber with such properties. They are now interested in extending this work to include beryllium compounds. Basic engineering research is needed to develop highly controlled processing operations and conditions that will produce consistently high fiber strengths over long length and with minimal coating defects. SUNY/B has experience with CVD and excellent facilities and experience working with various core materials to synthesize continuous monofilaments of different diameters, while the Austrian Institute has unusual expertise in CVD processes and in working with ceramic materials including the beryllides. The ever increasing performance requirements of aerospace systems and other classes of vehicles and machinery call for materials with low weight, high strength, high stiffness and high temperature capabilities. Metal matrix composites appear to offer these characteristics, but production of such advanced materials requires substantial basic information about factors that control ductility and strength, environmental effects, and interactions between fiber and matrix in composites. The proposed collaboration offers the interdisciplinary mix of complementary skills and knowledge that is needed to make progress in this strategically important field.
