Ceramics for High-Temperature

The objective of this MEANS program was to develop new methodologies for quantifying the variability in the performance of high temperature systems by coupling basic concepts from materials science with system design and engineering. The methodologies were validated by the fabrication and evaluation of new high temperature MEMS devices made from a novel polymer-derived ceramic material. The new results demonstrate two unique features: 1) how to hybridize computational approach with closed form models from materials science, and 2) how to account for the highly non-linear nature of temperature dependent material behavior in predicting variability. A Human-Machine-Interface that successfully predicts the remaining life of a microignitor working above 13000C, which is built upon these concepts has been demonstrated. Closed form results that link variability in temperature to variability in life-time via the activation energy of fundamental diffusion coefficients have been obtained, and validated by experiments. These results also show that a Gaussian distribution in temperature can lead to a log- normal distribution in lifetimes. More than fifteen publications, and two doctoral dissertations have resulted from this MEANS program.