Low Cost, Pultrusion-Based Composite Joiner Panel System with Simplified Installation

KaZaK Composites proposes to work with BIW and NGSS to develop and demonstrate a pultruded phenolic composite joiner panel system that makes substantial material, configuration, manufacturing and installation process changes to steel systems in currentusage. Three primary components of KCI's system, the joiner panel, curtain plate and coaming, will be made from pultruded phenolic composites. Advantages of pultrusion include lower fabrication cost and the ability to make panels in arbitrarily longlengths. This creates a new installation cost and weight paradigm by reducing the number of joints. Cost-saving technology for attaching the coaming to the deck will be investigated. Photogrammetry and CAD-modeling will be demonstrated as labor-savingalternatives to eyeballed cut-and-fit technology for patching curtain plates around overhead obstructions. A key component of the Phase II work will be continued development of a new core material that demonstrated an interesting combination of cost,weight and fire performance in Phase I testing. Phase II will terminate with a prototype demonstration, including a pultruded joiner panel, coaming, and curtain plate, plus evaluation of new core and installation concepts. In the Option Phase KCI willdeliver a quantity of pultruded joiner panel system components to the Navy for sea trials. Successful completion of the proposed work will result in a lightweight, low cost joiner panel system with a widespread market in both the commercial and militaryshipbuilding industry. In addition, work with our new core material concept could provide an alternative to balsa and other core materials traditionally used in sandwich panel structures. KCI will work to adapt and apply the Phase II system to both newinstallations aboard CG-47, LPD-17, DDG-51, CVN-X and other platforms, as well for service life extension programs in the military and commercial world. More importantly for KCI and the Navy, use of large pultruded joiner panels on Naval vessels is a lowrisk application that provides an opportunity to demonstrate the significant cost saving potential of pultruding very large ship structure, compared to making similar structure by VARTM technology, without requiring the Navy to commit to installation ofexperimental composite parts in some difficult to replace, mission-critical location of ship's structure. Success with the joiner panel product could represent the first step in the path to acceptance of a new material and process technology combinationthat will have a broad reaching effect on the future use of composites in shipbuilding.