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A Lightweight, Structural Foam with Fire, Thermal, Noise and Impact Protection
Title: Project Manager
Phone: () -
Email: dkr@trl.com
Title: President
Phone: (304) 547-5800
Email: bej@trl.com
NASA is interested in innovative manufacturing methods and materials that will significantly reduce the cost and weight of general aviation aircraft, while improving cabin comfort and crash-worthiness. Energy absorption, in the form of projectile impact and crash protection, and fire resistance are major safety benefits, and noise reduction is a serious comfort consideration. Several engineering materials offer very attractive specific mechanical properties (the ratio of properties to the density of the material). But a material being developed by Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd. of Triadelphia, WV, is unique in its combination of these properties with fire resistance, impact resistance/energy absorption, and the potential for large-scale, low-cost manufacture with relatively simple processing equipment. It is a lightweight foam made by the thermal decomposition of petroleum or coal precursors. Shown in the figures below, it can be fabricated in a variety of densities and cell structures to meet the weight, mechanical, and energy absorption requirements of a given application. Carbon foam offers the aviation industry a lightweight, structural material with superior energy and thermal-absorbing properties and enhanced fire protection.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *