Ultralight Woven Truss and Truss-core Cellular Metal Panels

"Ultra-lightweight high strength/high stiffness structural materials are needed for advanced military vehicles, such as the Marine Expeditionary Family of Fighting Vehicles (MEFFV). Cellular Materials International (CMI) proposes to develop and manufacturestructural panel materials satisfying these criteria, suitable for corrosive marine environments, based on proprietary periodic cellular metals concepts. In particular, CMI will develop structural panels, based on woven metal textile and formed expandedmetal truss cores, bonded to metallic face sheets. These materials will be 75 to 95% less dense than conventional (solid) structural panels of comparable mechanical performance. During Phase I of the proposed SBIR, CMI will demonstrate the feasibility ofmanufacturing of truss core and metal textile-based periodic cellular metal materials suitable for marine military vehicle applications.In addition to military applications, these ultralight, high performance structural materials will be attractive for a wide spectrum of commercial application; due to their low cost, coupled with light weight and excellent mechanical properties, they willbe attractive for commercial shipbuilding, transportation and civil infrastructure. Further, the proposed manufacturing method is amenable to a wide variety of metallic materials, including ferrous, cuprous, nickel, aluminum and titanium-base alloys. Thepanels are also amenable to joining by conventiona