Enhanced Matrices for Durable and Damage Tolerant Composites

Composite structures are increasingly replacing traditional metallic materials in aerospace platforms due to their high strength to weight ratios, manipulative properties, and corrosion resistance.Unfortunately, these systems tend to be brittle and typically do not resist or tolerate damage as well.To combat this issue, composite components are often designed with increased thickness, component redundancy, or other measures which reduce the benefits of using the advanced materials.Attempts have been made to improve damage tolerance by including z-direction reinforcement or advanced additives.However, these potential solutions either reduce other properties, such as strength, or have failed to achieve significant advances.A solution is sought which will improve durability and damage tolerance by addressing the inherent material properties of the constituent materials.Researchers at Luna Innovations have identified a system of chemical structural enhancements for epoxy systems that will retain the high strength of standard matrix resins yet significantly increase strain capability.The advanced resin chemical structure will be intimately coupled to low-cost nanomaterials, gaining up to a 50% increase in strain tolerance over traditional aerospace composites. These materials will be studied in composite structures to deliver the optimum formulation to the Army at the end of Phase I.