Review of testing methods to inform materials selection in high-temperature structural applications

Careful material selection is paramount to meet the significant challenges posed by harsh environments in advanced applications. Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have come to the forefront of consideration for many of these applications where environmental resistance needs to be combined with structural stability at high temperatures (1200 degrees C+). Many gaps exist in understanding how material variations pose unique material and design challenges that affect the final performance in a particular application. Thorough materials testing at relevant temperatures is required for various candidate materials to realize an analytical approach to materials selection. This review will discuss mechanical and environmental tests and their use at high temperatures including tensile tests, flexure tests, lifetime testing methods, interlaminar tests, and environmentally relevant tests. Challenges for performing these tests at high temperatures and on CMCs will be discussed. A literature review will provide examples of state-of-the-art testing, and the test results from historical work and improvement opportunities will be addressed. This review aims to provide an overview of the current capabilities and practices for high-temperature testing and recommend best practices for performing high-temperature tests and interpreting and sharing the results and metadata with the larger community to expand the CMC material property database.