Hybrid Composites for Beryllium Substitute Materials

Many industrial and aerospace applications use beryllium extensively due to its lightweight, high strength, thermal capabilities and other attributes. Missile defense interceptor, space, and optical sensor systems use beryllium in electronics, opticalsensor mirrors, and support structures to provide lightweight, high performance solutions. However, beryllium presents environmental, cost, and producibility issues for future interceptor production programs, including it may become unavailable from adomestic source in the next few years. No single material is likely to substitute for beryllium due to its unique characteristics. Composites, both polymer and metal matrix, have unique characteristics and many of the attributes of beryllium. The abilityto tailor the composites design and use manufacturing processes such as resin transfer molding to integrate other materials with the composites results in a class of