5.13 Development History of GE's Prepreg Melt Infiltrated Ceramic Matrix Composite Material and Applications

The General Electric Company (GE) has been actively involved in the development of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials for use in industrial gas turbines and jet engines for over 40 years. The fruition of this work will come with the commercial introduction of the CFM leading edge aviation propulsion (LEAP) engine in 2016, which will include first stage high pressure turbine (HPT) shroud components made of GE’s prepreg melt infiltrated CMC material. This introduction will mark the world’s first commercial use of ceramic composite structural components in a gas turbine engine. This chapter will describe the history of the development of this material from early conception, process development, rig and engine test validations, to scale-up, and commercialization.