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Completed TRL 3 (started at 3, targeting 3)
Carbon fiber reinforced composites may not provide sufficient toughness in certain aerospace applications where high impact strength is required. This effort involves developing models to accurately predict and optimize the tow-level and ply-level mechanical properties of newly developed composites made of carbon fiber-CNT yarn hybrid reinforcement.
Designing more damage tolerant aerospace composites will lead to lower payload weight for composite overwrap pressure vessels and/or composite cryotanks. ARMD may adopt toughened hybrid reinforcement for enhanced toughness and damping in composite airframe structures. The hybrid reinforcement has also received commercial interest.
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