INTEGRALLY STIFFENED GRAPHITE/MAGNESIUM PANELS

LARGE, PERIODIC TEMPERATURE EXCURSIONS CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DIMENSIONAL CHANGES IN LARGE ORBITING SPACE STRUCTURES. SIMILARLY, LARGE GROUND-BASED ANTENNAS AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS ARE SUBJECT TO DIURNAL DIMENSIONAL CHANGES THAT DIMINISH PRECISION AND SENSITIVITY. OUR RECENTLY DEVELOPED GRAPHITE/MAGNESIUM METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES (MMC) HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE DIMENSIONALLY STABLE (ZERO CTE AND ZERO HYSTERESIS) FROM -200 TO +300 DEGREES CENTIGRADE. WITH DENSITY OF 2G/CC, TENSILE STRENGTH OF 80 KSI, AND YOUNG'S MODULUS OF 50 MSI, SUCH MATERIALS ARE EXCEPTIONAL CANDIDATES FOR STIFFENED STRUCTURAL PANELS. BOTH INTEGRALLY STIFFENED AND HONEYCOMB PANELS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED AND EVALUATED IN THIS PROJECT.