IMPACT OF EXTENDED STORAGE PERIODS ON VARIOUS ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS

COMPOSITE MATERIALS ARE FORMULATED FROM COMBINATIONS OF FIBROUS AND SOLID (PLASTICS AND/OR METALS) WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE LIFE SPAN OF THE BASE MATERIAL. THIS STUDY WILL BE REQUIRED TO GATHER DATA ON STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND ESTABLISH A DATABASE TO DETERMINE THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON THESE MATERIALS IN LONG TERM STORAGE CONDITIONS. PRIMARILY, THESE MATERIALS ARE DESIGNED INTO AIR-TO-AIR (AIM) AND AIR-TO-GROUND (AGM) TYPE MISSILES. STORAGE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON THE COMPOSITE MATERIALS ARE THE BASIS FOR THIS STUDY. THE FOLLOWING STEPS ARE TO BE PURSUED IN THIS STUDY: PERFORM A SEARCH OF GOVERNMENT AGENCY DATA FOR USE OF THIS TYPE OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL. SOME EXAMPLES ARE: EPOXY FIBERGLASS, POLYIMIDE FIBERGLASS, EPOXY ARAMID FIBERGLASS, POLYIMIDE ARAMID FIBER, EPOXY QUARTZ (FUSED SILICA), POLYIMIDE QUARTZ (FUSED SILICA), FIBERGLASS/ARAMID FIBER COMPOSITE, FIBERGLASS/FEP, PORCELAINED COPPER INVAR CLAD (INVAR). IDENTIFY THE EFFECTS OF STORAGE CONDITIONS; ESTABLISH A DATABASE FOR THE VARIOUS PARAMETERS TO BE TESTED; PERFORM ANALYSES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MATERIALS PROPERTIES; RECOMMENDED TESTS TO BE PERFORMED ON LONG TERM ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS EFFECTS, AND SELECT LABORATORY EQUIPMENT AND DESIGN TESTS TO BE PERFORMED.