HIGH CHAR YIELD POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES

STATE-OF-THE-ART CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITE PROCESSING GENERALLY EMPLOYS PYROLIZED PHENOLIC, FUFERAL, PITCH OR COMBINATIONS OF THESE MATERIALS AS MATRIX MATERIALS. BECAUSE THE CHAR YIELD IS IN THE 50% RANGE, MULTIPLE IMPREGNATION AND PROCESSING STEPS ARE REQUIRED. ADDITIONALLY, THE HIGH VOLATILE CONTENT CAN CAUSE DELAMINATION AND PART LOSS DURING PROCESSING. NEW HIGH CHAR YIELD RESINS SUCH AS H RESIN OR POLYARYL ACETYLENES (PAA'S) HAVE RESIDUAL WEIGHT YIELDS AS HIGH AS 88%. THE USE OF THESE RESINS WILL BE EVALUATED RELATIVE TO ACHIEVING STRUCTURALLY SOUND, DIMENSIONALLY STABLE, LOW COST CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITES.