Novel Mold Technology for Scaled Manufacturing of High Performance Composite Hypersonic Thermal Protection Systems

The Defense Department is working hard on developing both hypersonic offensive and defensive capabilities. But in the immediate future, one of the most important areas to be developed is increasing the capacity at which such systems can be produced, said Gillian Bussey, director of the Joint Hypersonics Transition Office. ĀĀĀ ĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀ Atomic-6 was founded to solve a problem that the composites industry has been trying to overcome for the past half century. That problem is manufacturing high performance at high volume with more economical efficiency. Or simply put, how can the composite manufacturing process offer aerospace level performances at automotive production volume. Atomic-6Æs proprietary mold technology has not only proven the possibility of this, but we also have repeatedly lab tested low to moderate temperature composites and shown our technology works at scale,Āoffering performance levels previously thought impossible while demonstrating 120 times faster production capability in certain applications. We have presented to composite engineers at almost every major defense prime in the US. They all have similar responses. First, they can't believe it and second, they want to know how Atomic-6 can start R&D projects with them. Our process offers high fiber content, minimal void, uniform distribution of the fiber and matrix, promoting polymer chain alignment, and minimizing porosity throughout the structure. This ultimately allows for standard deviations averaging 0.1-0.2%, allowing for tighter tolerances and less mass. Phenomenal is the typical adjective we hear.ĀAtomic-6 was the only U.S. company awarded Top 20 Global Finalists for the 2022 JEC World Composites Startup Booster Competition. Atomic-6 is backed by IronGate, an Aerospace & Defense Venture Capital Firm. One of 20 out of 3,000 annually chosen to be Accelerated by Starburst, the world's 1st global accelerator for Aerospace & Defense. In the area of hypersonic thermal protection systems, Atomic-6 plans to apply its proprietary mold technology to carbon-carbon materials.Ā Atomic-6 CTO, Peter Shpik, has extensive experience with these materials, having previously held the position of Senior Research Engineer for Refractory Composites R&D Advanced Technology at Rohr/Collins Aerospace. He helped develop ceramic matrix composites for the Rockwell X-30 with a target speed of Mach 20. This was an advanced technology demonstrator project for the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP), part of a United States project to create a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spacecraft and passenger spaceliner. Thus it is evident that Atomic-6 has one of the few people in the country who know how to properly manufacture and make improvements to hypersonic thermal protection systems. Combining Mr. ShpikÆs experience with the proprietary mold technology developed by Atomic-6 will enable consistent and scaled production of composite hypersonic parts.