High-Damping Composite Materials for Advanced Aerospace Structures

The innovation addressed in this proposal is an advanced composite material that provides a high degree of damping with little sacrifice of stiffness or strength. By integrating the functions of load-bearing and vibration suppression, this high-dampingcomposite material (HDCM) will enable the elimination of parasitic structural components. This simplification will improve the reliability of structures and control systems, while allowing significant cost savings through the reduction of design time andweight. When applied to launch vehicles and advanced space structures, HDCM will help reduce the cost-per-pound to orbit, fulfilling a mission-critical need for the Air Force. The proposed research and development plan will leverage Foster-Miller'sstate-of-the-art composite fabrication techniques with the advanced modeling and structural vibration experience of the University of Colorado, Boulder, to meet the Air Force's requirements. To reach this goal, several critical milestones must be reached.These include the primary objectives of this proposal: achieving proof-of-concept of the HDCM, and demonstrating flight-traceable fabrication techniques. Further product development milestones include showing enhanced performance of a typical aerospacestructure, demonstrating said structure in a representative environment, and eventually flight-testing an engineering model before proceeding to full-scale production and flight-proving. (P-01510) Although the composite material that is the subject ofthis proposal is tailored toward spacecraft and launch vehicle applications, there is an even larger potential market in the non-space related government and commercial sectors. HDCM could see application in transportation (aircraft, watercraft, groundvehicles), construction (buildings, bridges, roadways, bunkers, storage tanks), heavy equipment (cranes, tractors, generators), and sporting gear (rackets, bats, golf clubs). Foster-Miller has had considerable experience with transitioning technologies inall of these sectors, and is well positioned to exploit this expertise.