Thermoplastic Composite Lockers for Hazardous Material Storage on Navy Ships

Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd (Touchstone) is proposing to use a building-block approach to develop an innovative all-composite solution to solve the Calcium Hypochlorite storage locker problem that the Navy is currently facing. An all-composite storage locker will eliminate corrosion maintenance almost entirely, will reduce weight compared to metallic lockers, and can be designed to meet fire and shock requirements. Touchstone proposes utilizing thermoplastic composite materials technology, which, in addition to being lightweight, high in strength, and impact-resistant, offers excellent chemical resistance. Thermoplastic composites, such as Tegris (made by Milliken & Company), contain polypropylene fibers that reinforce a lower melt temperature polypropylene matrix. Lightweight, high shear strength core materials, such as CFOAM Carbon Foam (made by Touchstone), may also be utilized in the locker to increase stiffness, minimize weight, and increase fire, smoke and toxicity (FS & T) resistance.