SURVIVABILITY ENHANCEMENT OF OPTICAL FIBER DATA BUSSES BY STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION

INCREASED PROTECTION OF OPTICAL FIBER DATA BUSSES WOULD REDUCE AIRCRAFT SYSTEM VULNERABILITY TO BALLISTIC DAMAGE AND INCREASE THE PROBABILITY OF ACCOMPLISHING MISSION GOALS. SUCH DATA BUSSES ARE EMPLOYED TO AVOID ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE, ALLOW INCREASED DATA RATES, AND DECREASE WIRING HARNESS WEIGHT. BECAUSE OPTICAL FIBERS ARE SMALLER THAN WIRE CABLES, THEIR LIKELIHOOD OF DIRECT IMPACT DAMAGE IS LOWER. BY INCORPORATING FIBERS WITHIN STRUCTURAL AIRFRAME MATERIALS, ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN DAMAGE REDUCTION MAY BE POSSIBLE. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS HAVE ATTACHED FIBERS TO AND EMBEDDED FIBERS WITHIN AEROSPACE MATERIALS FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS, MAINLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF MEASURING MATERIAL PROPERTIES. ATTACHMENT OF FIBERS HAS BEEN ACHIEVED USING POLYMER AND CERAMIC ADHESIVES, AS WELL AS BY FLAME SPRAY AND PLASMA SPRAY METHODS. FIBERS HAVE BEEN EMBEDDED WITHIN SIMPLE POLYMERS, CERAMICS AND METALS, AS WELL AS WITHIN POLYMER, REFRACTORY AND METAL-BASE COMPOSITES. BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THESE METHODS, AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FIGBER CABLE DESIGNS, FIBER AND SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES (F&S) PROPOSES TO DETERMINE ATTACHMENT/EMBEDDING STRATEGIES. IN PHASE I, F&S AND THE FIBER & ELECTRO-OPTICS RESEARCH CENTER (FEORG) AT VIRGINIA TECH WILL DETERMINE ALTERNATIVES TO PROTECT FIBERS INTERGRATED WITH STRUCTURAL MATERIAL SYSTEMS. PHASE II WOULD THEN INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THOSE ALTERNATIVES.