LIGHTWEIGHT CRASH RESISTANT FUEL TANK MATERIAL

THE INCORPORATION OF CRASHWORTHY, SELF-SEALING FUEL TANKS INTO HELICOPTERS DURING THE LATE SIXTIES RESULTED IN A SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTION OF INJURIES AND FATALITIES CAUSED BY POST-CRASH FIRES. THE TECHNOLOGY USED IN TODAY'S CRASHWORTHY, SELF-SEALING FUEL TANKS IS THE SAME BASIC TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS DEVELOPED MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO. VERY LITTLE EFFORT HAS BEEN COMPLETED SINCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE ON THE EXISTING DESIGNS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO DEMONSTRATE DESIGN CONCEPTS OF CRASHWORTHY SELF-SEALING FUEL TANKS THAT WOULD OFFER A WEIGHT REDUCTION OF AT LEAST 20 PERCENT OVER THE EXISTING FUEL TANKS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY RESEARCHING THE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED TO DATE. THIS RESEARCH WILL INCLUDE AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT MATERIALS, CONFIGURATIONS, AND CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN TRIED, HOW THEY HAVE PERFORMED, AND WHY THEY WERE OR WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL. FROM THIS BASE OF KNOWLEDGE, NEW MATERIALS, CONFIGURATIONS, AND CONCEPTS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THESE SYSTEMS WILL THAN BE EVALUATED THROUGH THE PERFORMANCE OF SCREENING TESTS. FINALLY AN ALGORITHM WILL BE DEVELOPED TO RANK THESE SYSTEMS BASED ON THEIR PERFORMANCE IN THE SCREENING TESTS, CALCULATED SYSTEM WEIGHT ESTIMATES, AND OTHER ESTIMATED PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS. THE RESULTS OF THIS RATING WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE "BEST" CONCEPTS UNDER A PHASE II PROGRAM.