Passive Acoustic-Thermal Vacuum Insulation System (PATVIS)

Technology Applications, Inc. has developed a concept for thermally and acoustically insulating engine bulkhead panels for the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). The Passive Acoustic-Thermal Vacuum Insulation System (PATVIS) barrier consists of a unique combination of vacuum-insulated panels (VIP) coupled with visco-elastic materials to provide acoustic and thermal insulating performance otherwise not attainable. The outer shell will be a fiberglass reinforced plastic using a unique combination of constituents. Finite element modeling was used to predict thermal and acoustic performance, and to optimize the component type, thickness, and distribution within the panel. The same acoustic model was used to analyze the Honeycomb/Alba-Core™ panel presently used on the EFV. Model results predict the PATVIS panel acoustically out-performs the present panel. The predicted Sound Transmission Class value of the PATVIS panel is 37, while the present panel only achieves a value of 32. Thermally, the PATVIS panel is expected to exceed the required performance of 0.030 BTU/hr-ft-ºF by a factor of ten. An additional benefit provided by the low-density VIP layers within the PATIVS barrier is a projected panel weight of 2.4 lbs/ft², which is significantly less than the 3.0 lbs/ft² requirement.