INNOVATIVE PREPREGGING FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE THERMOPLASTICS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH QUALITY, PRODUCEABLE HIGH TEMPERATURE THERMOPLASTIC/CARBON COMPOSITES IS BEING SOUGHT BY THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY. NEW THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES WILL MEET THE REQUIRED HIGH SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE OF ALL CLASSES OF ADVANCED AIRCRAFT, WILL REDUCE FABRICATION AND LIFE CYCLE COST AND WILL GREATLY SIMPLIFY MAINTAINABILITY. ONE OF THE MAJOR OBSTACLES TO HIGH TEMPERATURE THERMOPLASTIC/CARBON COMPOSITES HAS BEEN THE ABILITY TO CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCE UNIFORM, VOID-FREE PREPREG, THE FIRST STEP IN COMPOSITE FABRICATION. IN THE PROPOSED PROGRAM FOSTER-MILLER WILL EVALUATE A NOVEL PREPREGGING METHOD USING HIGH SHEAR STRAIN RATES TO REDUCE MELT VISCOSITY OF THE LARC-TPI POLYMER AND PROVIDE VERY COMPLETE WETTING AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE FIBERS. THE METHOD WILL PROVIDE IMPROVEMENTS OVER CURRENT LARC-TPI RESIN COMPOSITES, INCLUDING AND ELIMINATION OF VOIDS, UNIFORM FIBER DISTRIBUTION AND HIGH VOLUME PERCENT (OVER 60 PERCENT)FIBER IN THE COMPOSITE. PREPREGGED MATERIAL WILL BE PRODUCED AND FABRICATED INTO COMPOSITE TEST SAMPLES FOR MECHANICAL TESTING AND MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS.