High Performance Microcellular Foam Core

In this effort, Foster-Miller proposes to use the power of supercritical fluid processing to produce advanced thermoplastic foam core materials for high performance aircraft. In commodity polymers, this process has demonstrated the ability to produce trillions of cells per cubic centimeter of parent polymer with cell sizes in the range 0.1-25 um. The structure thus produced is very fine, uniform, and essentially closed-cell. This type of structure thus produced is very fine, uniform, and essentially closed-cell. This type of structure is ideal for use in high perfomance aircraft core, where the need to combine low weight with high moisture resistance is paramount. The objective of this program is to demonstrate the feasibility of this technology in a batch process using advanced polymers to meet the Air Force requirements of high thermal and chemical stability combined with high levels of mechanical properties: If the technology proves successful, effort would then be directed toward developing a continuous processing capability to efficiently produce high performance foam cores.