Advanced Composite Materials for Air Cushion Vehicles

The U.S. Navy has significant interest in the development of advanced, lightweight structural concepts for the next generation of Air Cushion Vehicles (ACV) that enable enhanced operation performance. In particular, these structural concepts must provide reduced weight and life-cycle costs with increased structural performance. To meet these future performance goals, advanced structural materials which possess superior specific properties, corrosion and erosion resistance, and impact durability and ease of repair must be developed and qualified for use. Fiber reinforced composite materials demonstrate substantial promise in meeting these future performance goals. However, there are certain limitations in the current state of composite material technology that must be addressed to enable their widespread application to ACV’s; principally improved impact durability and erosion resistance. Composite Technology Development (CTD) proposes a multidisciplinary effort to develop and qualify a new class of composite materials for ACV’s based on shape memory polymer technology enabling improved impact durability and shape recovery of impact-induced damage. CTD will work with key industry partners to demonstrate the material’s applicability to ACV’s through the development of ACV conceptual designs based on the proposed technology which demonstrate significant improvements in operational performance over existing technology.