New Bonding Process for Joining High Tenacity Fabrics in Airships

A new generation of high altitude airships (HAA) requires advanced materials and fabrication methods to achieve the weight, strength and durability requirement for long-term deployment. A new fabric joining approach is proposed to form strong, durable seams between textile components without incurring a large weight penalty. The new textile adhesive and application system are designed to perform like a combination of stitching and adhesive bonding to yield strong and durable seams. The new adhesive will combine the properties of liquid crystalline polyester (LCPE) and conventional UV curing acrylics to yield a joining system with the best attributes of stitching and bonding. The proposed adhesives will be applied through the fabric adherends using a heated multi-needle applicator. This textile joining approach should allow rapid seam formation, accommodate a variety of fabric architectures and orientations and produce high strength seams with excellent durability in high altitude service. The Phase I research objective is to demonstrate the joining of high tenacity fabrics suitable for HAA structure. The adhesive materials will be synthesized, simple-to-apply formulations prepared, a prototype applicator-cure system fabricated, and the ability to form effective seams demonstrated. The resulting bonds will be tested for strength, weight addition, and environmental durability.