SBIR-STTR Award

Composite materials with resin, metal and ceramic matrices are assuming a leading role in aerospace, aircraft, transportation and marine structural design. Although possessing high strength anl stiffness to weight ratios, they do not exhibit damping at a level required for many of these applications. The state-of-the-art high damping metallic systems, on the other hand, though exhibiting extrodinary damping, do not have the mechanical characteristics which are required for highly stressed components. The proposed r&d will examine ways of marrying these two classtes of materials to produce a hybrid which has good damping as well as the stiffness and strengtd characteristics of structural composites. The program seeks to develop design and property information which will provide the methodology for producing damped composites with both resin as well as metallic matrices.

Keywords:
COMPOSITE MATER DAMPING ALLOYS DAMPED COMPOSIT VIBRATION CONTR ACOUSTIC DAMPIN STRENGTH(MECHAN MECHA

Composite materials with embedded shape memory alloys offer advantages as interactive materials for the control of vibration and noise. The theory of beams, plates and shells is well developed, and the characteristics and processing of shape memory alloys are also advanced. Earlier work on these materials has been based on graphite epoxy composites. The present proposed effort will exploit the newer thermoplastics and will develop these materials beyond the experimental stage to engineered structures with testing of the performance on composite hybrids with properties designed for high reliability instructures requiring either vibrational or acoustic control.