Carbon Foam Innovative Processing

"The Missile Defense Agency has a need for innovative processes that will improve manufacturing capabilities, product quality and reliability, reduce unit costs and enhance manufacturing yields and subsystems and component performance. Carbon foam hasdemonstrated numerous properties that make it a candidate material for several MDA-sponsored programs including: space-based mirrors, lightweight structural foam for space platforms, and thermal protection systems for space applications. Several othertechnology areas have been identified and will likely be investigated in the near future. CFOAMr, developed by Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd., is a next-generation structural material which is inexpensive, lightweight, fire-resistant,impact-absorbing, thermally insulating or conducting. Electrical conductivity can be varied over seven orders of magnitude. CFOAMr can be fabricated in a variety of shapes, sizes, and densities to meet the property requirements of specific applications.Because of the recent emergence of this technology, processes - although reliable - have not been optimized for product quality, reliability and cost. The process enhancement proposed will have significant effects on all the technologies currently beinginvestigated, resulting in improved technology readiness for all the CFOAMr programs currently being developed and supported by MDA. By making processes used to make carbon foam robust and cost-effectiv