Selective material characterization of ceramic matrix composites for advanced gas turbines

A selective modular service representative methodology as part of a full characterization strategy for ceramic matrix composite materials for advanced gas turbines is presented on the example of a C/C-SiC and a SiC/SiC material. The first module demonstrated versatility to rank arbitrary materials by their performance before passing to a costly full material characterization in order to derive the relevant design data for engineering purposes. No major problems were encountered in mechanical and thermophysical properties measurement, in material analysis and in thermal shock testing. However service representative environmental testing as the most critical material selection test posed some major problems.