{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":91610,"title":"Design and Fabrication of Aerospace-Grade Digital Composite Materials","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10881,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10879,"level":3,"code":"TX12.4.2","title":"Intelligent Integrated Manufacturing","definition":"Intelligent integrated manufacturing technologies comprise the “digital thread” model-based manufacturing environment.","exampleTechnologies":"Integration of smart sensors, controls, and measurement, analysis, decision support, and communication software tools for process control; model-based, digital implementation that integrates design, manufacturing and product support processes","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":2,"currentTrl":3,"endTrl":3,"benefits":"
Ultimately, the ability to repurpose defunct space structures through disassembly and subsequent assembly within a new, modular design will provide greater material efficiency and a more sustainable launch cost structure.
","description":"This project aims to advance design rules and fabrication approaches to create aerospace-grade structures from digital composite materials. Digital materials are discrete building blocks that can be assembled in a scalable, rapid, and reversible manner. To date, however, demonstrated structures have primarily been restricted either in the use of high performance composite materials or in the topology of the assembled structure. We will address these shortcomings via computational and experimental investigation of 1-D fiber-reinforced struts that have increased specific stiffness and buckling resistance, and 2-D element populations to create structures with tunable and directional properties. The modular design of digital materials will be modeled and characterized in an effort to avoid costly and lengthy sub-component certification. Ultimately, the ability to repurpose defunct space structures through disassembly and subsequent assembly within a new, modular design will provide greater material efficiency and a more sustainable launch cost structure.
","startYear":2014,"startMonth":9,"endYear":2019,"endMonth":5,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":79357,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Christopher","lastName":"Hansen","fullName":"Christopher M Hansen","fullNameInverted":"Hansen, Christopher M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"christopher.hansen@associates.hq.dhs.gov","publicEmail":false,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":84634,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Claudia","lastName":"Meyer","fullName":"Claudia M Meyer","fullNameInverted":"Meyer, Claudia M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"claudia.m.meyer@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":84634,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Claudia","lastName":"Meyer","fullName":"Claudia M Meyer","fullNameInverted":"Meyer, Claudia M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"claudia.m.meyer@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":183514,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Hung","lastName":"Nguyen","fullName":"Hung D Nguyen","fullNameInverted":"Nguyen, Hung D","middleInitial":"D","primaryEmail":"hung.d.nguyen@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":198012,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"James","lastName":"Moore","fullName":"James B Moore","fullNameInverted":"Moore, James B","middleInitial":"B","primaryEmail":"james.b.moore@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/home/index.html","libraryItems":[],"transitions":[{"transitionId":75458,"projectId":91610,"transitionDate":"2019-05-01","path":"Closed Out","details":"This Early Career Faculty research effort focused on the advancement of design rules and fabrication approaches necessary to create optimized and low-cost aerospace-grade structures from digital composite materials. The effort used a multi-cavity cross-section approach to improve buckling resistance of lattice structures and showed unparalleled improvements in lattice strengths relative to the structural mass, and developed models that can predict the buckling and/or fracture performance depending on the relative density of the structures. The effort also investigated lightweight lattice structures within energy absorbing applications. The lattice structures with modified struts showed an increase in the energy absorption through an increased resistance to compaction coupled with a smoothing of the stress-plateau during compaction.
The project efforts directly impact NASA’s technology roadmap, particularly TA12 (materials, structures, mechanical systems & manufacturing). The analysis and modeling tools and low-cost, flexible fabrication approaches for 1-D and 2-D discrete composite elements will enable modular structural designs that are optimized for stiffness, mass, and robustness under loading and impact. The specific benefits are broadly grouped as positively impacting flexibility and cost efficiency. Mission flexibility will be enhanced by in-field adaptation of modular structural designs. The manufacturing of composite components within the proposed design-print-deploy approach will be flexible and enable rapid iteration.
\tThe Space Technology Research Grants Program will accelerate the development of "push" technologies to support the future space science and exploration needs of NASA, other government agencies and the commercial space sector. Innovative efforts with high risk and high payoff will be encouraged. The program is composed of two competitively awarded components.
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