Sebastian MEYERS, Waut DECLERCQ, Jef VLEUGELS, Brecht VAN HOOREWEDER, Sébastien PARIS, Stéphane DEBAISIEUX, Manon WOUTERS, Arnaud FRANÇOIS, Erin KUCI, Antoine PARMENTIER, Johan STEELANT
DOI Number: N/A
Conference number: HiSST-2025-241
This paper addresses the processing of morphing structures for moving control surfaces in re-entry vehicles. To this end, laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) was used to fabricate reaction bonded silicon carbide (RBSC) components. The production process consisted of powder preparation, LPBF, polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP), SiC conversion, secondary PIP and liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) resulting in a fully dense RBSC. Components were produced for microstructural, mechanical, and thermal analysis. Results of these analyses were used as input for the design of a number of components with geometries more representative for the final application, i.e. morphable
flaps for re-entry vehicles. These designs were subsequently fabricated and tested in a high-enthalpy flow in a Plasmatron facility. Although fabrication of these large samples was very challenging, two different designs were successfully fabricated and tested. During testing, failure occurred due to a sudden temperature increase in the Plasmatron facility. However, one test was successfully completed, showing limited morphing capability of the component. A total deflection of about 2 mm over a length of 90 mm was achieved, which corresponds to a bending radius of approximately 2 m. Future research should focus on creating a more morphable material, perhaps by making use of multi-material AM. In
addition, challenges were identified during the printing of large components which need to be addressed.