Ultralight Woven Truss and Truss-core Cellular Metal Panels

"Ultra-lightweight high strength, high stiffness, blast-resistantstructural materials are needed for protecting naval vessels andfuture Marine Corps vehicles, such as the Marine ExpeditionaryFamily of Fighting Vehicles (MEFFV). These materials provideblast protection by plastic work which absorbs the mechanicalenergy of an impulse created by a blast. Cellular MetalsInternational (CMI) proposes to develop and manufacturestructural materials in sandwich panel form to satisfy thesecriteria. They will be suitable for marine environments, and willbe based on the CMI proprietary periodic cellular metals conceptsidentified in an ONR SBIR Phase I program.In the Phase I program, CMI showed that structural panels, basedon a woven metal textile or formed metal truss cores, bonded tometallic face sheets were feasible for energy absorbingstructures and suitable for marine military vehicle applications.These materials are 75 to 95% less dense than conventional(solid) structural panels of comparable thickness. Following thePhase I program, CMI proposes to further develop these cellularmetals concepts and to extend manufacturing routes to enablelarge scale production during Phase II. Cost modeling, businessplanning, and phased investment strategies will be importantaspects of the Phase II commercialization effort.BENEFITS: Establishing a viable corporate entity that can provide the Department of Defense with these materials is also an aspect of th