Carbon Fiber/Polysiloxane Prepreg Tape for Automatic Tape Placement Additive Manufacturing of Hypersonic Thermal Protection Systems

The innovation of this proposal, “Carbon Fiber/Polysiloxane (C/UHTR) Prepreg Tape for Automatic Tape Placement (ATP),” utilizes Techneglas’ Ultra High Temperature Resin (UHTR) as the basis to develop an easily transportable, conveniently storable, and ready-to-use prepreg tape. This novel technology can be utilized to additively manufacture complexly shaped Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) using Out of Autoclave (OoA) methods, resulting in parts suitable for use in hypersonic flight systems. Building a new ablative system from the ground up can take upwards of a decade, requiring substantial funding and resources. One of KAI’s strengths is its ability to use system integration to unify the best aspects of existing technology into a novel and superior technology. KAI proposes the integration of two well-matured systems: Techneglas’ polysiloxane resin and ATP additive manufacturing. C/UHTR molding compound has been proven to be superior to commercially available legacy carbon/phenolic molding compound (C/Ph, MX-4926N MC) ablative system during laboratory testing, and UHTR has demonstrated excellent properties as additive manufacturing stock material for selective laser sintering. C/UHTR can also be post-processed into a radio transparent ceramic matrix composite if desired. C/UHTR composite systems would move from TRL 4 to 5 by the end of this SBIR program. For Phase I, KAI will screen carbon fibers to ensure compatibility with the UHTR system and ATP processes. Nanomaterial and filler loading studies will be conducted to tailor C/UHTR prepreg tape for ease of transport, storage, and manufacturing. Final formulations will be used to create test billets for testing in order to ensure that TPS properties are retained and similar to other C/UHTR systems developed by KAI. For Phase II, KAI will validate its top-performing formulations at the NASA Ames Arc Jet Complex or NASA Langley HYMETs arc jet and use the data to validate a predictive material response ablation model. Throughout this proposal, KAI will continue to advance its collaboration with interested government agencies and related contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrup Grumman.