Long Out-time, Out-of-Autoclave Cure Composites, Phase I

Opportunities for this material may be found in commercial, military, and civilian aircraft and helicopter applications that are trying to reduce material and processing costs of composite parts. Specific applications may be found in primary and secondary structures including fuselage, wing structures, fairings, engine core-cowls, and rotor blades. In comparison to current out-of-autoclave prepreg materials, the new technology will provide the avenue for development of much larger composite structures that require longer lay-up times. The material system will provide better damage tolerance and enable the development of lower cost honeycomb composite structures due to the advantage of inherent skin-core self-adhesive properties. Applications may follow for lower temperature cure systems in the manufacturing of composite marine vessels and ships due to the large structures and long lay-up times. The successful completion of this research program will enable the development of high quality large composite structures that are manufactured out-of-autoclave and require long lay-up times. The utilization of this out-of-autoclave prepreg material is initially targeted for NASA Ares launch vehicle structures but other NASA applications could benefit from this technology as related to the topic "Low Cost and Reliable Access to Space" LCRAS. There are many cost advantages that will result from this specific technology for producing high performance composites including no autoclave capital equipment or consumables, no freezer storage due to the year out-time at ambient temperature, no film adhesives required for honeycomb core composites, and more damage tolerant structures that require less repair. This material may also find use in out-of-autoclave composite cryotank development. More »