AS THE SIZE OF COMPOSITE PARTS EXCEED THAT OF EVEN THE LARGEST AUTOCLAVES, NEW OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE PROCESSES A…

Public award description

AS THE SIZE OF COMPOSITE PARTS EXCEED THAT OF EVEN THE LARGEST AUTOCLAVES, NEW OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE PROCESSES AND MATERIALS ARE NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE THE SAME LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE AS AUTOCLAVE CURED COMPOSITES. UNFORTUNATELY, THE QUALITY OF COMPOSITES MANUFACTURED WITH CURRENT OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE PREPREG SYSTEMS IS LIMITED BY THEIR SHORT SHELF-LIFE AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS. THE RESIN ADVANCEMENT, DUE TO LONG LAY-UP TIMES, COMMONLY CAUSES VARIATIONS IN FIBER VOLUME AND HIGHER VOID CONTENT IN THE CURED STRUCTURES. ALSO, CURRENT OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE PREPREG SYSTEMS DO NOT PROVIDE THE SAME LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE, ESPECIALLY DAMAGE TOLERANCE, AS MANY CURRENT AUTOCLAVE CURED PREPREG SYSTEMS. IT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK TO DEVELOP A MATRIX AND PREPREG SYSTEM FOR OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE PROCESSING THAT HAS A YEAR OUT-TIME AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS WHILE ALSO PROVIDING AN EXCELLENT BALANCE OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE. AS AN ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY, THE OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE PREPREG SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED TO HAVE INHERENT SKIN-CORE SELF-ADHESIVE PROPERTIES SO THAT FILM ADHESIVES ARE NOT REQUIRED FOR DESIGNS WITH HONEYCOMB CORES. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE TRL WILL BE 4 AT THE END OF THIS PHASE I PROGRAM.