Rapid processing of laminar composite components

A gas turbine engine component, manufactured by the method comprising:

• infiltrating a porous substrate with a composite material;
• performing a first densification on the infiltrated porous substrate and the composite material, forming a first densified porous substrate, wherein the first densification includes techniques selected from the group of techniques consisting of photonic curing, photonic sintering, pulsed thermal heating, and combinations thereof;
• repeating the above steps a predetermined number of times to form a plurality of first densified porous substrates;
• assembling the plurality of the first densified porous substrates, forming a layered structure of the plurality of the first densified porous substrates, wherein forming a layered structure of the plurality of the first densified porous substrates includes forming an interface layer between at least some of the first densified porous substrates, wherein the interface layer comprises a particulate composition, chopped fibers, or a suspension or dispersion of ceramic, metal, or carbonaceous particulates, platelets, nanotubes, or nanofibers;
• and
• performing a second densification on the layered structure of the plurality of the first densified porous substrates, forming a second densified porous substrate, wherein performing the second densification is via at least one of a Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST), a Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) process, or a localized heating at a bonding interface;
• wherein the gas turbine engine component comprises a second densified porous substrate having a plurality of first densified porous substrates that have an interface layer positioned between at least some of the first densified porous substrates.

A gas turbine engine component, comprising:

• a densified porous substrate that comprises a densified layered structure of a plurality of first densified porous substrates, wherein each of the plurality of first densified substrates comprises a porous substrate infiltrated with composite material, wherein:
• the porous substrate is selected from the group consisting of cellular foams, unitapes, woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, knits, braids, chopped fiber mats, and combinations thereof and is formed of a material selected from the group consisting of metals, glasses, ceramics, carbon, polymers, and combinations thereof;
• and
• the composite material is selected from the group consisting of a carbides, oxides, nitrides, borides, and combinations thereof;
• wherein the densified layered structure of the plurality of the first densified porous substrates includes an interface layer between at least some of the first densified porous substrates, wherein the interface layer comprises a particulate composition, chopped fibers, or a suspension or dispersion of ceramic, metal, or carbonaceous particulates, platelets, nanotubes, or nanofibers
• wherein the densified layered structure of the plurality of the first densified porous substrates has been subjected to a second densification step to form a second densified porous substrate having a plurality of first densified porous substrates that have an interface layer positioned between at least some of the first densified porous substrates.