NOVEL IN-SITU FIBER OPTIC FTIR PROCESS MONITOR FOR CARBON-CARBON STRUCTURES

FOSTER-MILLER PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL FIBER OPTIC BASED FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FTIR) PROCESS MONITOR TO SENSE AND CONTROL THE PROCESSING OF ADVANCED CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITE STRUCTURES PLANNED FOR TURBINE ENGINE, HOT STRUCTURE AND SPACE APPLICATIONS. IN PHASE I, FOSTER-MILLER WILL DEMONSTRATE THE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE CONCEPT: THE ABILITY OF NEW HIGH OPTICAL QUALITY SAPPHIRE FIBER SENSORS TO OBTAIN IR SPECTRAL DATA IN BOTH THE LOW TEMPERATURE CURE CYCLE OF CARBON/PHENOLIC PEPREGS AND IN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE CARBONIZATION PROCESS. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF OBTAINING DATA AT TEMPERATURES UP TO 1400C AND SHOULD PROVIDE THE FIRST IN-SITU REAL-TIME INFORMATION IN BOTH INITIAL CURE AND THE CARBONIZATION-PYROLYSIS REACTIONS OF CARBON-PHENOLIC MATERIALS. CRITICAL DATA ON REIMPREGNATION WILL ALSO BE OBTAINED. THESE TASKS WILL LEAD TO THE RESOLUTION OF KEY ISSUES OF PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION SO THAT THE SYSTEM WILL BE READY FOR IMMEDIATE INTEGRATION INTO A CARBON-CARBON REACTOR. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE BASED ON FOSTER-MILLER'S HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL REMOTE FIBER OPTIC FTIR POLYMER REACTION MONITOR. THIS TOOL WAS DEVELOPED BY FOSTER-MILLER TO MONITOR AND CONTROL CHEMICAL KINETICS IN ORGANIC RESIN SYSTEMS IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS SUCH AS AUTOCLAVES AND HIGH TEMPERATURE PRESSES AND MOLDS. IT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED TO THE CURE OF COMPOSITE PARTS MADE FROM EPOXIES, BISMALEIMIDES AND POLYIMIDES. IT WON A 1990 R&D-100 AWARD. IN PHASE II, FOSTER-MILLER WILL INTEGRATE THE CARBON-CARBON MONITOR INTO A COMMERCIAL PROCESS REACTOR. REPRODUCIBLE PRODUCTION OF CARBON-CARBON STRUCTURES WITH IMPROVED STRUCTURE/MICROSTRUCTURE/PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS IN PHASE II WILL FORM A FIRM BASIS FOR A COMMERCIALLY SUPPORTED PHASE III PROGRAM.