Lucideon to Establish Sovereign U.K. Manufacturing of CMC for Aerospace, Defense and Nuclear

Sources | Lucideon, Nuclear Industry Association

In an August news report by The Engineer, materials science consultancy Lucideon (Stone, U.K.) discusses its proposal to bolster the U.K.’s capabilities in the manufacture and supply of advanced ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials necessary to maintain the competitiveness of its domestic industries in global markets.

CMC comprise ceramic fibers reinforcing a ceramic matrix, able to withstand ultra-high temperatures as well as thermal and mechanical shock, while enabling weight savings versus metals. Demand for these materials and components made from them have continued to increase globally, but Lucideon notes the U.K. currently lacks the capability to ensure their secure supply.

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“There is currently no industrial-scale manufacturing capability for oxide or non-oxide high-temperature ceramics, including CMCs, in the U.K.,” says Richard Goodhead, Lucideon’s chief marketing officer, “which hampers the nation’s ability to maximize our defense, energy and economic security. Lucideon is proposing a blueprint to address that, specifically contributing its cutting-edge capabilities and many years of experience in ceramics and their manufacturing processes.”

These capabilities include oxide fiber-reinforced oxide (Ox-Ox) and non-oxide materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) and SiC fiber-reinforced SiC (SiC/SiC).

New companies, Oxide Ceramic Systems Ltd.and Non-Oxide Ceramic Systems Ltd., have been incorporated to take Lucideon’s activity forward, and a site at Keele University Science Park is earmarked to house the facility.

Goodhead says the new facility will work with end users in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries to define which components and CMC materials systems they wish to establish manufacturing capability. This will be followed by manufacturing at pre-production levels, which could range from hundreds to thousands of components per year, with potential for a multi-year program to build to tens of thousands of certified airworthy parts per year.

The costs to deliver the facility are estimated to exceed £500 million over the next 7-10 years, including equipment, people and research and technology development, as well as suitable buildings, validation and certification.

Lucideon will lead this facilities and capability build-out through a joint venture with industry partners and key R&D organizations, noting that the Applied Materials Research, Innovation & Commercialisation Co. (AMRICC) Centre, also based in Stone, is at the heart of the proposal.

As well as private funding, the plan will require just over £200 million in government funding. Goodhead notes Lucideon is working constructively with key stakeholders and the government. “We are focusing on the investment case rather than trying to prescribe the funding mechanism,” he explains. “We are also positively engaged with many potential private-sector organizations in aerospace, defense and nuclear who are validating the demand for such a national capability.”

Read more in reports by the BBC, AMRICC and the Nuclear Industry Association.