SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Aircrafts operated by the US Navy/Marine Corps have to endure harsh environmental conditions, with erosion from Foreign Object Debris such as sand particles being a prime concern. The aeroengines ingest loose sand, which impinges on the engine components and damages the metal, ceramic, and composite materials. Erosion phenomena are complicated due to the wide operating space but can be efficiently analyzed with simulations. Peridynamics (PD) is a simulation approach that models impact and resultant damage and failure modes and was demonstrated in Phase I. In Phase II, virtual sand particles for PD will be created with realistic features guided by micrographs and tomography data. Virtual composites will be developed based upon fabricated CMC samples. To achieve fidelity PD will be calibrated to experimental sand impact data. A large dataset will be generated with PD to assess erosion rates and damage over the impact operating space. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations will be applied to extend the time and spatial scales. Analytical correlations will be trained to the dataset and leveraged to rapidly predict erosion performance.
