MATERIALS AND PROCESSES FOR ASEROSPACE RTM

THE U.S. AIR FORCE HAS AN INTEREST IN HIGH RATE, LOW COST, PRODUCTION PROCESSES FOR AIRCRAFT PARTS. ABARIS PROPOSES A COMBINED ANALYSIS AND TESTING PROJECT TO EXPLORE MODIFYING PRESENT RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING (RTM) TECHNIQUES TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THEIR USE IN THE PRODUCTION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, AEROSPACE, COMPOSITE MATERIALS. EPOXY RESINS SHALL BE UTILIZED IN COMBINATION WITH GRAPHITE REINFORCEMENTS IN THE FORM OF THICK (1/4 TO 1/2 INCHES) HIGH DENSITY PREFORMS TO FABRICATE LAMINATES FOR TEST AND EVALUATION. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-COST FABRICATION PROCESSES FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPOSITES IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE IN THE ECONOMICAL USE OF COMPOSITES IN AEROSPACE STRUCTURES. PHASE I TASKS ARE TO BUILD TWO TOOLS, FROM TEST PANELS OF DIFFERENT THICKNESSES, AND CONDUCT STRUCTURAL TESTS, TO EXPLORE THE RESULTING PERFORMANCE. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE INJECTION PROCESSES TO RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING OF THICK, HIGH DENSITY, CARBON FIBERS, FILAMENT WOUND PREFORMS. PHASE II OBJECTIVES WILL BE TO SCALE UP AND OPTIMIZE THE RESIN INJECTION PROCESS TO ACHIEVE LOWER COSTS CONSISTENT WITH AEROSPACE QUALITY AND TO GENERATE SUFFICIENT DATA TO ALLOW MATERIALS AND PROCESS SPECIFICATIONS TO BE WRITTEN.