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EP-4737430-A2 - GEOPOLYMER COMPOSITE MATERIALS EMBEDDED WITH COATED FIBROUS REINFORCEMENT MATERIALS

EP4737430A2EP 4737430 A2EP4737430 A2EP 4737430A2EP-4737430-A2

Abstract

A geopolymer composite material (200) includes a geopolymer resin (202), a fibrous reinforcement material (204) embedded in the geopolymer resin (202) for reinforcing the geopolymer resin (202), and a protective coating material (206) covering the fibrous reinforcement material (204) embedded in the geopolymer resin (202) to provide a coated fibrous reinforcement material (208). Further, the geopolymer resin (202) and the coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) are combined together to form a prepreg (210) containing the geopolymer resin (202) being pre-impregnated into the coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) and being curable into a solid matrix.

Inventors

  • JASICZEK, Michal
  • Sinha, Shatil
  • KESHAVAN, HRISHIKESH
  • GEMEINHARDT, GREGORY CARL
  • GRAVES, John Harvey
  • LIN, WENDY WENLING

Assignees

  • General Electric Company
  • GE Aerospace Poland sp. z o.o.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240704

Claims (15)

  1. A geopolymer composite material (200), comprising: a geopolymer resin (202); and a coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) impregnated with the geopolymer resin (202); wherein the coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) comprises a protective coating material (206) covering a fibrous reinforcement material (204); and wherein the geopolymer resin (202) is cured into a solid matrix having the coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) embedded therein.
  2. The geopolymer composite material (200) of claim 1, wherein the solid matrix comprises at least one repeating polymeric unit, the at least one repeating polymeric unit comprising at least one of silico-oxide (-Si-O-Si-O-), silico-aluminate (-Si-O-Al-O-), ferro-silico-aluminate (-Fe-O-Si-O-Al-O-), or alumino-phosphate (-Al-O-P-O-).
  3. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 1-2, wherein the fibrous reinforcement material (204) comprises a volume fraction content of between about 20% up to about 80% in the geopolymer resin (202).
  4. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 1-3, wherein the fibrous reinforcement material (204) comprises a porosity volume content of less than about 50% of a porosity of the geopolymer composite material (200).
  5. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 1-4, wherein the fibrous reinforcement material (204) comprises at least one of chopped fibers, unidirectional fibers, multidirectional fibers, one or more woven fabrics, one or more rovings, a braided material, or combinations thereof.
  6. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 1-5, wherein the fibrous reinforcement material (204) comprises at least one of carbon fiber, silicon carbide fiber, glass fiber, quartz fiber, basalt fiber, mineral fiber, aluminum oxide fiber, silicon oxide fiber, a mixture of alumina and silica fibers, boron fibers, or combinations thereof.
  7. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 1-6, wherein the protective coating material (206) comprises at least one of a metallic coating material, a non-metallic coating material, an organic coating material, or combinations thereof.
  8. The geopolymer composite material (200) of claim 7, wherein the metallic coating material comprises at least one of nickel, iridium, rhenium, chromium, chromium aluminide, platinum, platinum aluminide, copper, or combinations thereof.
  9. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 7-8, wherein the non-metallic coating material comprises at least one of boron nitride, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, or combinations thereof.
  10. The geopolymer composite material (200) of any of claims 7-9, wherein the organic coating material comprises at least one of silane, siloxane, polyvinyl acetate, epoxy, urethane, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, or combinations thereof.
  11. A method of manufacturing a geopolymer composite material (200), the method comprising: coating a fibrous reinforcement material (204) with a protective coating material (206) to provide a coated fibrous reinforcement material (208), the protective coating material (206) comprising at least one of a metallic coating material, a non-metallic coating material, an organic coating material, or combinations thereof; impregnating the coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) with a geopolymer resin (202) to form a prepreg (210); laying up the impregnated coated fibrous reinforcement material (208); and curing the impregnated coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) to form a solid matrix of the geopolymer composite material (200).
  12. The method of claim 11, further comprising preparing the geopolymer resin (202) by: mixing a solid material with an activator, the activator comprising at least one of an alkali material, an acidic material, or combinations thereof.
  13. The method of any of claims 11-12, wherein coating the fibrous reinforcement material (204) with the protective coating material (206) to provide the coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) further comprises: applying the protective coating material (206) to the fibrous reinforcement material (204) via at least one of: electrolytic deposition, electroless deposition, chemical vapor deposition, or physical vapor deposition.
  14. The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein curing the impregnated coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) to form the solid matrix of the geopolymer composite material (200) further comprises autoclaving the impregnated coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) via an autoclave system.
  15. The method of claim 14, wherein autoclaving the impregnated coated fibrous reinforcement material (208) comprises applying temperatures of up to about 400 Celsius (°C) and pressures of less than about 4000 kilopascals (kpa).

Description

FIELD The present subject matter relates generally to composite materials and more particularly to geopolymer composite materials that can be used in various aerospace applications. BACKGROUND Gas turbine engines, often used in many aerospace applications, have an increased demand for high temperature, light weight components. For example, applications having a high temperature resistance, e.g., up to 1000 Celsius (°C), low density, and good mechanical properties have become increasingly popular. Traditionally, polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have been utilized to produce light weight structures. For example, carbon fiber epoxy, polyimide, bismaleimide or cyanate ester composites are used in various engine applications, but such materials can generally only withstand maximum operating temperatures up to 300 °C. Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) can be used in higher temperature applications (e.g., in excess of 1600 °C), however, such materials have limited structural performance. Moreover, the cost and processing times of CMCs can also be prohibitive when considering applications in high temperature components. In addition, the mass penalty of CMCs as compared to traditional PMCs can be significant and thus their use has been limited. Therefore, there is a need for materials that aid in manufacturing high temperature components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A full and enabling disclosure of the presently described technology, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which refer to the appended figures, in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of an aircraft according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 2 illustrates a port side view of the exemplary aircraft of FIG. 1.FIG. 3 illustrates a cross section view of an engine of an aircraft in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed, cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a geopolymer composite material according to the present disclosure;FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate schematic diagrams of embodiments of prepregs according to the present disclosure, particularly illustrating a prepreg in roll form and a prepreg in sheet form;FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of manufacturing a geopolymer composite material in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure; andFIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a process of manufacturing a geopolymer composite material in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made in detail to present embodiments of the disclosure, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features in the drawings. Like or similar designations in the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of the disclosure. As used herein, the terms "first" and "second" may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to signify location or importance of the individual components. The terms "forward" and "aft" refer to relative positions within an engine or vehicle and refer to the normal operational attitude of the engine vehicle. For example, with regard to an engine, forward refers to a position closer to an engine inlet and aft refers to a position closer to an engine nozzle or exhaust. The term "downstream" refers to the relative direction with respect to fluid flow in a fluid pathway. For example, "downstream" refers to the direction to which the fluid flows. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The terms "coupled," "attached to," and the like refer to both direct coupling, fixing, or attaching, as well as indirect coupling, fixing, or attaching through one or more intermediate components or features, unless otherwise specified herein. Approximating language, as used herein throughout the specification and claims, is applied to modify any quantitative representation that could permissibly vary without resulting in a change in the basic function to which it is related. Accordingly, a value modified by a term or terms, such as "about", "approximately", and "substantially", are not to be limited to the precise value specified. In at least some instances, the approximating language may correspond to the precision of an instrument for measuring the value, or the precision of the methods or machines for constructing or manufacturing the components and/or systems. For example, the approximating language may refer to being within a ten percent margin. Here and throughout the specification and claims, range limitations are combined and interchanged, such ranges are identified and include all the sub-ranges contained therein unless context or language indicates otherwis