LOW CTE METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE FITTINGS

THIS PHASE I PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PRODUCING LIGHTWEIGHT, LOW CTE METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITE FITTINGS OF GRAPHITE-FIBER/ALUMINUM AND TO SHOW BY MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL-PROPERTY TESTS THAT THE MATERIAL IS USEFUL FOR APPLICATION TO SPACE STRUCTURAL HARDWARE. THE PROGRAM WILL FOCUS ON RECENTLY DEVELOPED DWG (CONTINUOUS GRAPHITE-FIBER/ALUMINUM) AND DWAL-G (CHOPPED GRAPHITE-FIBER/ALUMINUM) MATERIALS USING THORNEL PITCH 55, PITCH 75, AND PITCH 100 FIBER. SIMPLE SHAPES THAT CAN BE VISUALIZED AS REPRESENTATIVE OF REAL FITTINGS OR JOINTS WILL BE PRODUCED TO DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY. SPECIMENS FOR PROPERTY TEST WILL BE TAKEN FROM BOTH THE DEMONSTRATION ITEMS AND FROM PREFORM MATERIAL. STRUCTURAL EVALUATION AND PROPERTY-TEST ANALYSIS, ALONG WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PHASE II PROGRAM TASKS, WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL REPORT.