Materials Sciences LLC SBIR Phase I Award, October 2019

Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites (TPMCs) have gained increased attention for use in high performance composite structures and components for aviation and launcher applications. TPMCs provide improved damage tolerance, faster processing and assembly, reduced joint weight, minimal store requirements, and recycling options which thermoset composites typically cannot offer. Advances in thermoplastic processing methods such as in-situ automated tape placement (ATP) have found an application in producing large caliber gun tubes and electromagnetic (EM) railguns for the Army. Despite the many advantages of ATP TPMCs for this application, the performance of the composite overwrap in a dynamic loading environment is driven by the through thickness (radial direction) modulus, which is a function of the matrix. The load carrying capacity of the cylindrical structure is dominated by the matrix with an order of magnitude lower modulus compared to the carbon fiber reinforcement. Materials Sciences LLC (MSC), along with its research and manufacturing partner at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK/CAER), commercial prepregger Barrday Corporation, and end-user manufacturing partner Automated Dynamics, part of Trelleborg Group, proposes the development of a process to increase the through thickness modulus of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic with carbon nanotube (CNT) fillers.