Low Cost, Impact Damage Resistant Polyurethane Matrix Blades

KaZaK Composites proposes to design and demonstrate low cost composite blades made with materials and processing technology already proven to resist impact, erosion and cavitation damage in Navy applications. While technology to be demonstrated by KaZaK will be generically applicable to all types of blades and propulsors, we propose to focus our initial investigation on the Lift Fan Paddles of the LCAC. These paddles, currently extruded aluminum, are subjected to extreme impact and sand abrasion conditions during operations, and represent a costly maintenance item for the Navy. KaZaK’s proposed solution includes 1) Use of high strain-to-failure polyurethane as a matrix material, 2) Use of a macro-composite design to achieve an otherwise unobtainable combination of structural stiffness and damage resistance, and 3) Design for fabrication by cost-effective manufacturing methods such as pultrusion and VARTM to assure acquisition cost affordability. KaZaK has previously demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed material, configuration and manufacturing technology combination in several Navy-sponsored programs, and currently has products based on the same technology on active CVN sea trails. Phase I will include design, sample fabrication and testing of full scale LCAC lift fan blade prototypes to validate the mechanical, impact and abrasion resistance properties of candidate designs.