Passive Acoustic-Thermal Vacuum Insulation System (PATVIS)

Performance requirements of the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) have resulted in hot and/or noisy equipment inside the AAAV with sound levels over 120 dBA. Current methods are inadequate to allay these extreme conditions that present physical and operational hazards to Marines engaged in combat maneuvers. TAI is proposing a highly innovative concept to provide a new level of performance in combined thermal insulation and acoustic attenuation. Advances in the areas of thermal insulation and noise suppression are available through the use of vacuum insulation panel (VIP) technology. VIP has exceptionally low thermal conductivity resulting in thermal performance that exceeds AAAV requirements by as much as an order of magnitude. Because vacuum is the ultimate attenuator for sound, VIP provides a great potential for noise reduction. However, no study has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of VIP with respect to passive acoustic attenuation. TAI proposes to conduct such a study in this Phase I effort. Additionally, state-of-the-art viscoelastic materials can be packaged with VIP providing a synergistic combination of properties to achieve a solution for the AAAV.