IGF::OT::IGF NRA-NASA(NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION)RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT - A PHYSICS-BASED…

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IGF::OT::IGF NRA-NASA(NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION)RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT - A PHYSICS-BASED PROCESS MODEL FOR CO-CURE BONDING OF HONEYCOMB CORE SANDWICH STRUCTURES - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP PHYSICS-BASED PROCESS MODELS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF PREDICTING BOND-LINE DEFECTS OCCURRING DURING SANDWICH STRUCTURE FABRICATION. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP A CO-CURE/CO-BOND CURE PROCESS MODEL THAT CAN PREDICT THE EXISTENCE OF TYPICAL BOND DEFECTS OBSERVED DURING FABRICATION OF LAMINATES AND BONDED ASSEMBLIES AND PROVIDE THE ABILITY TO OPTIMIZE/STANDARDIZE CURE PROCESSES DURING FABRICATION. THE ADVANCED COMPOSITES PROJECT (ACP) IS A NASA AERONAUTICS RESEARCH MISSION DIRECTORATE (ARMD) AERONAUTICS PROJECT ALIGNED WITH THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE OF ENABLING A REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATION FOR SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE US AND GLOBAL AVIATION THROUGH AERONAUTICS RESEARCH. ACP IS SEEKING TO REDUCE THE TIMELINE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES, WHICH WILL HELP MAKE ADVANCED COMPOSITE COMPONENTS MORE COMPETITIVE IN THE COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT MARKET. ACP WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL BY INFUSING LEADING-EDGE, PHYSICS-BASED TOOLS TO IMPROVE COMPOSITE STRUCTURES CHARACTERIZATION AND SIMULATIONS, DEVELOP STANDARDIZED PROCEDURES, AND OPTIMIZE FABRICATION PROCESSES TO ENABLE THE REDUCTION OF THE EXISTING 10 YEAR DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION TIMELINE FOR AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES BY 30%. ACP WILL ALSO UTILIZE SYSTEM-LEVEL TESTING AND EVALUATION TO INVESTIGATE PROMISING CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR AIR VEHICLE STRUCTURES AND DEMONSTRATE THE BENEFITS OF THOSE TECHNOLOGIES IN A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT. ACP WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY FOCUSING ON SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES THAT INVOLVE KEY COMPONENTS OF THE AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION LIFECYCLE. THE FINAL SET OF TECHNICAL CHALLENGES ARE NOTIONALLY PROVIDED HERE AS: 1. PREDICTIVE CAPABILITIES 2. RAPID INSPECTION, AND 3. MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND SIMULATION TECHNOLOGIES. SPECIFICALLY, THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND SIMULATION (MPS) TECHNICAL CHALLENGE WILL DEVELOP PREDICTIVE TOOLS TO ADDRESS IMPROVING MANUFACTURING QUALITY CONTROL FOR BONDED STRUCTURE AND DEVELOP CURE PROCESS MODELS WITH THE GOAL OF PREDICTING LAMINATE QUALITY AND REDUCING PART SCRAP RATE AND MANUFACTURING REWORK DUE TO DEFECTS. COMPOSITE PROCESSING IN GENERAL INVOLVES REACTIVE PROCESSING. DURING THE LAST DECADE THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS ADVANCES IN MODELING AND SIMULATION OF REACTIVE PROCESSING. THIS FACT, COUPLED WITH THE ENORMOUS ADVANCES IN COMPUTING CAPABILITY, HAS MADE COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING (CAE) A REALITY. INDUSTRY CURRENTLY DEPENDS ON CAE TO IMPROVE AND/OR DEVELOP NEW PROCESSES. THEREFORE, MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY BASED SOLELY ON PAST EXPERIENCE MUST GIVE WAY TO NEW APPROACHES GUIDED BY MODELING AND SIMULATION OF THE COMPLEX REACTIVE PROCESSING PHENOMENA IN ORDER TO PREDICT DEFECTS WHICH COMMONLY OCCUR IN THE FABRICATION OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS. THE UTILIZATION OF PHYSICS-BASED PROCESS MODELS WILL DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THE ACP BY REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF TRIAL AND ERROR FABRICATION DEVELOPMENT CURRENTLY REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY A STABLE MANUFACTURING METHOD REQUIRED FOR PRODUCTION CERTIFICATION. THE TIME REQUIRED UNDER THE EXISTING APPROACH TO REACH PRODUCTION CERTIFICATION CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BY REPLACING EMPIRICAL TRIALS WITH VALIDATED PROCESS ANALYSIS MODELS AND NUMERICAL METHODS. THUS, NASA IS SEEKING TO DEVELOP AND MATURE NEW OR IMPROVED, PHYSICALLY ACCURATE AND VALIDATED, HIGH FIDELITY PROCESS MODELS.