CARBON CARBON COMPOSITE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS

SEVERAL GOVERNMENT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS (TAV, BVG, ELITE, ETC.) HAVE PROPOSED SYSTEMS WHICH REQUIRE "HOT" STRUCTURES, CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING OPERATIONAL LOADS AT EXPOSURE TEMPERATURES OF 2500 DEG F AND HIGHER. THE MOST PROMISING MATERIAL CANDIDATE FOR THESE HOT STRUCTURE APPLICATIONS IS COMPOSITE CARBON-CARBON. THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITES TO THE SOLUTION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE STRUCTURE PROBLEMS HAS BEEN WELL DEMONSTRATED BY EXAMPLES SUCH AS SPACE SHUTTLE, ROCKET NOZZLE EXIT CONES, JET ENGINE AFTER BURNER SECTIONS, AND GAS TURBINE ENGINE ROTORS. SIMILARLY, ADVANCED HYPERSONIC MISSILE AIRFRAME STRUCTURES ARE EXPECTED TO CONSIST OF COMPLEX STRUCTUREAL ASSEMBLIES JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM A SINGLE UNIT CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS AND PAYLOAD. CONVENTIONAL JOINING AND ATTACHMENT METHODS (METAL FASTENERS, ADHESIVES, ETC.) CANNOT BE USED AT THESE EXTREME TEMPERATURES. PDA ENGINEERING PROPOSES TO DEFINE AND ANALYTICALLY ASSES FEASIBLE COMPOSITE CARBON-CARBON STRUCTURAL JOINING METHODS FOR TYPICAL MISSILE AIRFRAME STRUCTURES. PDA WILL USE ITS EXTENSIVE CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITE DESIGN EXPERIENCE AND MATERIAL DATA BASE AND ITS THREE DIMENSIONAL (3D) ANISOTROPIC COMPOSITE ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES TO DEFINE AND ASSESS CANDIDATE JOINING METHODS. A DETAILED PHASE II TEST PLAN (LOW AND HIGH TEMPERATURE TESTING) WILL BE DEFINED TO VALIDATE THE PHASE I DESIGN CONCEPTS.