Standard U.S. Navy fiber optic assemblies require that the fiber be bonded to the connector using an adhesive that is labor intensive and heat controlled (MIL-A-24792). Advanced Material Systems (AMS) proposes a study that could solve this problem through the development of an adhesive system that would cure at room temperature in less that 3 minutes and yet meet all of the in-service requirements. There is no such product available in today's market. Our approach in Phase I is to study the characteristics of families of adhesives with applicability to the primary materials with supporting combinations and/or additives, and demonstrate the feasibility of achieving satisfactory performance through select screening tests. Phase Ib would then derive other properties of the better formulations (or variations of them), yielding an identification of the optimal candidate(s).
