New composites material for space applications

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In recent years, significant advancements have been made in composite materials including toughened resins, high modulus fibres and the use of nanochemicals. The North American space industry has been using cyanate ester resin for many years for their applications. Cyanate ester resins offer advantages as composite matrices because of their high thermal stability, low outgassing, low water absorption, and radiation resistance. During the last years, resin suppliers have developed new systems such as modified epoxy, benzoxazine or BMI that could be used for space applications. These resin systems are now believed to achieve better and more reliable properties. Furthermore, the use of nanochemicals in the resin system could potentially improve the electrical conductivity, or transverse thermal conductivity and structural strength of the final composite material. In light of the above, the objective of this project is to investigate these new resin systems and assess their suitability for the manufacturing of fibre reinforced composite structures for space applications. The project will involve a thorough review of the appropriate new fibres and resin systems for space applications. A review of the possible core materials will also be carried out to improve sandwich panel performance. The target manufacturing method will be out-of-autoclave and must produce composites with a high level of dimensional stability. The processability of the materials will be investigated using a combination of instrumented curing fixtures and process modelling. The thermo-mechanical performance will be investigated by standard characterization tests and space conditions simulators. The manufacturing of simple representative laminates (e.g. thin plates, thick plates, honeycomb sandwiches, angled brackets and tubes) will demonstrate the applicability of the selected material for space applications. A first order cost analysis model will be developed in collaboration with the industrial partners. This project is part of the sixth round of the CRIAQ (Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec) and involves two universities, McGill University, Concordia University and two industrial partners, MDA Corporation (MDA) and Composites Atlantic Ltd (CAL).