The Microwave Assisted Composite Manufacturing and Repair (MACMAR)

NASA funded missions could benefit from the use of lightweight materials and structures that are damage tolerant and multifunctional. This technology could lead to the manufacture of structural components without the need for traditional composite tooling. The composite response to microwave energy may also allow the potential for structural health monitoring. The proposed technology has a broad potential for infusion. Any vehicle, habitat, or other structure built of composites would benefit from this technology. It could be used for primary or secondary structures in the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Commercial Crew Development, Space Launch Systems or other Space Exploration Systems (Habitats, Rovers, Probes, etc.). #These composite materials offer significant mass savings with reduced manufacturing time and operational costs. Processing with microwave energy could lead to significantly less processing time during composite manufacturing (minutes compared to hours of cure time and eliminate the use of traditional adhesives and tooling). The operational costs can be reduced by minimizing down time due to repair or replacement material and uses less energy. The multifunctional nature and healing capability of the composite can offer improvements in electrostatic dissipation, thermal management, radiation shielding, structural health monitoring, micrometeoroid impact mitigation and restricted gas permeation. The proposed technology could be infused to meet a variety of National needs such as wind turbines for renewable energy, energy efficient transportation (vehicles, trains and aircraft) or military applications (helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, support vehicles, missile casings). Team members have a close relationship with those working conventional composites, and on-ramps and requirements may be easily identified and shared.