Drastic Improvements in Bonding of Fiber Reinforced Multifunctional Composites, Phase II

The MCA technology is efficient, highly reproducible, environmentally safe, and can be applied virtually to any solid state material. In addition, the MCA technology is highly scalable to large areas and minimum processing times, as the MCA fabrication efficiency is proportional only to the average laser power. Lasers with average powers up to 5 kW are currently commercially available. In addition, precise CNC systems are currently available for providing the MCA fabrication process on curved and complex shape parts. As a result the MCA application range will expand to any area where reliable bonding between to materials is required. Such areas can include medical applications (dentistry and bone surgery), sport gear (golf and hockey clubs, boats), automobile (lighter and stronger parts), etc. Aerospace applications require novel and reliable material systems and structures to meet the increasing requirements of innovative designs. Lightweight composite materials have a high potential for applications in the areas of increased payload, reduced costs, and better survivability. Subsonic, supersonic, and especially hypersonic thrusts pose an extraordinary challenge for structures and materials. The airframe and engine require lightweight, materials and structural configurations that can withstand the extreme environment of the flight. One of the very important issues in the aerospace industry is bonding of dissimilar materials, since high bond resistance to high and rapid thermal and mechanical loads is required. Composite materials have very different coefficients of thermal expansion. In addition, structural properties and thermal conductivities are different too, which actually adds to the problem. Aerothermic heating, and high mechanical loads caused by ultra-high speeds, is one area of intensive research targeted by the current project. More »