HIGH-STRENGTH LIGHTWEIGHT TORPEDO HULLS

SUBMARINE LAUNCHED TORPEDOES CURRENTLY USE CAST OR FORGED ALUMINUM HULL SECTIONS. THIS PROPOSAL OUTLINES THE PROCEDURES THAT SHALL BE USED BY R-CUBED COMPOSITES TO EVALUATE TORPEDO HULL SECTIONS THAT ARE MADE UTILIZING MATERIALS THAT OFFER A GREATER STRENGTH/WEIGHT AND/OR STIFFNESS/WEIGHT RATIOS THAN DO THE PRESENT ALUMINUM HULL SECTIONS. THESE HIGHER RATIO MATERIALS ARE OF COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION MADE WITH MATRIX RESINS OF TOUGHENED EPOXIES AND THERMOPLASTICS WITH GRAPHITE FIBER. R-CUBED COMPOSITES HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN FABRICATION OF THICK WALLED FILAMENT WOUND CYLINDERS USED FOR HIGH PRESSURE HYDRAULIC ACTUATORS UTILIZING BOTH THE TOUGHENED EPOXY AND THERMOPLASTIC RESINS. OF THE TWO MATERIALS THE THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL WAS THE MOST EFFECTIVE. THIS PROPOSAL IS IN RESPONSE TO THE SBIR PROGRAM ENTITLED "HIGH-STRENGTH, LIGHTWEIGHT TORPEDO HULLS NO. N89-110" FOR THE UNITED STATES NAVY. PHASE I OF THIS PROGRAM IS THE MATERIAL AND PROCESSING EVALUATION. R-CUBED HAS SELECTED TWO THERMOPLASTIC RESINS AND TWO THERMOSET RESINS TO BE USED IN THE PHASE I STAGE. AFTER FABRICATION HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, THE CYLINDERS WILL BE TESTED IN EXTERNAL COMPRESSION BY THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. UPON COMPLETION OF THE TESTING, THE RESULTS SHALL BE EVALUATED TO DETERMINE THE BEST PLAN FOR FOLLOW-ON WORK AND DEVELOPMENT.