ORGANIX MATRIX COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR CRYOGENIC SERVICE

APPLICATION OF ADVANCED ORGANIC COMPOSITE AT CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURE IS OF CURRENT INTEREST. HOWEVER, RELATIVELY LIMITED DEVELOPMENT WORK HAS BEEN DONE IN THIS AREA. OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF AN ORGANIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL AT CRYOGENIC ENVIRONMENT IS SOMEWHAT LACKING. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS THAT AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF AN ORGANIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL AT CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES, THIS PROPOSAL DISCUSSES NOVEL APPROACHES TAKEN IN SELECTING RESIN MATRIX AND TEST PROGRAM FOR THE STUDY. THE PROPOSAL DESCRIBES THE USE OF AMORPHOUS COPOLYMERS AND POLYMER ALLOYS AS RESIN MATRIX FOR FABRICATION OF COMPOSITES. THIS PROPOSAL DEVELOPS A TEST MATRIX. WE WILL ASSESS FAILURE MOOD ANALYSIS, EFFECT OF GLASS-TRANSITION TEMPERATURE (TG), MOLECULAR WEIGHT/DISTRIBUTION, MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONAL GROUP AND POLYMERIZATION KINETICS ON THE COMPOSITE PROPERTIES INCLUDING INTERFACIAL BONDING STRENGTH, INTERLAMINAR SHEAR STRENGTH, TENSILE STRENGTH, IMPACT STRENGTH, FRACTURE TOUGHNESS AND MOISTURE SENSITIVITY, ETC. INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL PROVIDE NEEDED DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT WORK IN UP-GRADING ORGANIC MATRIX COMPOSITE FOR CRYOGENIC SERVICE.