Novel Flame and Impact Resistant Foam Core

The objective of this proposal is to develop new processing methods and materials packages for foam core materials that can be used in military and civilian applications that call for ballistic and flame resistance. The research work will build on anexisting program in the area of ballistic resistant composites using polyurethane resins and aramid / glass reinforcements. New materials that will be tested include advanced Aramid soft ballistic fabrics and a nonwoven silica paper recently specified asthe primary fiberlocker in the Airbus A380. The optional use of thin sheets of Titanium will also be evaluated. A variety of fire and smoke reduction technologies will be utilized to improve the current composite which has an LOI of 36 to 47 withoutadditives or synergists.The pultruded skin layers will be laminated to a variety of core materials including syntactic foams, high performance thermosets such as polymethacrylamide, advanced thermoplastics and novel materials, e.g. Geopolymers. The feasibility of two differentmethods for simultaneous in-line production of sandwich core materials will be investigated in the course of the research program. Complete sample testing will be conducted including; mechanical, cone calorimetry, FAA standard procedures under FAR 25.853and NIJ Standard 0108.01 / MIL-STD-662E. The cost of conventional advanced material processes in terms of labor, capital equipment and materials is very high. The proposed pultrusion methods and materials solutions are projected to significantly reduce the overall cost for new ballistic andfire resistant foam core composites used in advanced materials applications.A number of military and civilian transportation applications would benefit from the successful completion of the proposal: One of immediate significance is the production of terrorist resistant bulkheads for compliance with the Aviation andTransportation Security Act (ATSA) under section 104 (a)(2) which specifies future aircraft security enhancements including terrorist resistant floors, ceilings and bulkhead designs. Other aircraft components amenable to the new technology might be long,continuous floor sections and curved sections used to form the straight portion of a fuselage. Hat sections for component stiffening might be another opportunity. Areas requiring compound curvatures could be fabricated using conventional methods and thematerial solutions developed in the program.Other large opportunities for foam core concepts resulting as a spin-off of the technology lie in the area of improved fire safety and survivability for civil infrastructure including metal buildings that use foam based insulation. Yet another opportunitymay exist in third world development and military deployment structures. Related to this would be the potential for blast / fire resistant materials for protection of barracks and other key facilities as well as armor upgrade kits for military and civilianapplications. The proposal uses numerous new material advances in conjunction with established production technologies, thus the potential exists to convert the R&D effort into commercial products in a short period of time.