Hybrid Composites for Beryllium Substitute Materials

The missile defense Exoatmospheric Interceptor Kill Vehicle (EKV) uses beryllium in many of its structural, optics, and electronic components to provide lightweight, high performance design solutions. However, beryllium presents environmental, cost, and producibility issues for future interceptor production programs. No single material has been identified that is likely to directly substitute for beryllium due to its unique characteristics. Composites, both polymer and metal matrix, have unique characteristics and come the closest to providing a single material substitute for beryllium; but "Hybrid Composites" provide the best alternative to beryllium. The Hybrid Composites approach uses multi-constituent composite materials to replace beryllium for structures, optics, and electronics thermal management applications based on combinations of reinforcements, matrices, and integrated electrical materials. In the Phase I study, the feasibility of using the Hybrid Composites design approach for beryllium replacement was successfully demonstrated analytically and design methodologies were defined for EKV components for three different functional applications-structural, electronic thermal management, and optical. The Phase II program objective will be to develop and demonstrate low cost, producible, and high performance Hybrid Composite structures to replace beryllium for EKV structural components including the EKV optical sensor sunshade, Electronics Unit (EU) housing, Divert Attitude Control Subsystem (DACS) structures, and an integrated DACS/Structure common module primary structure components for the EKV assembly. The scope will include engineering design for EKV structural requirements, manufacturing process development for EKV Hybrid Composite structural components, database development by fabricating test articles and conducting mechanical properties and structural tests, and fabrication of full-scale test articles for qualification testing.