Low Cost, Low Weight Composite Structure using Out-Of-Autoclave (OOA) Technology

The development of out-of-autoclave (OOA) materials decreases the cost of entry into composites manufacturing programs and allows new opportunities for aircraft designers. The development of new generations of OOA materials has enabled the fabrication of large composite structures with nearly identical properties to their autoclave-cured counterparts. These materials have increased the designer’s flexibility to create larger integrated composite structures without the restraint of available autoclave size. In the Phase II effort, Aurora Flight Sciences will develop the engineering and manufacturing requirements for the manufacture of an OOA radome. Two OOA radomes will be fabricated during the Phase II program. The first Radome fabricated will be subjected to teardown inspection while the second article will be supplied to NAVAIR as a delivery article. The fabrication and subsequent destructive and non-destructive testing on the OOA radome will demonstrate the feasibility of the developed processes to provide complex naval aircraft structures. Also during the Phase II program, a market strategy will be developed to transition OOA technology to specific identified programs. The collected cost and inspection data from the out-of-autoclave articles will assist with further development of the technology transition plan and provide key marketing data for the continued commercialization of OOA technology.