Conductive Liquid Crystalline Elastomer For Aircraft Gap Treatment

Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. and Liquid Crystal Institute of Kent State University jointly propose to develop and demonstrate material technologies enabling conductive liquid crystalline elastomer for aircraft gap treatment. The Phase I results have demonstrated the feasibility of developing conductive liquid crystalline (LC) elastomer materials for this application. This Phase II program will capitalize on the knowledge obtained in Phase I to optimize and develop mature conductive LC elastomer for aircraft gap treatment. The proposed conductive elastomers provide the means to enhance performance and improve increase service life by increasing the elasticity, reducing tendency of compression set and being corrosion resistant. It will also reduce operational cost by reducing weight of the conductive filler and reducing frequency of maintenance and/or repair due to enhanced durability. The proposed program will also develop processing technologies to use conducting liquid crystalline elastomer for field repair of gap treatment material. This suite of new technologies will address the drawbacks of conventional metal filled elastomer gap treatment materials.