NASA SBIR 2006 Solicitation
FORM B - PROPOSAL SUMMARY
PROPOSAL NUMBER: |
06-2 X6.03-8197 |
PHASE 1 CONTRACT NUMBER: |
NNM07AA56C |
SUBTOPIC TITLE: |
Material Concepts for Lightweight Structure Technology Development |
PROPOSAL TITLE: |
Ultra-Lightweight Nanocomposite Foams and Sandwich Structures for Space Structures Applications |
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Wright Materials Research Co.
1187 Richfield Center
Beavercreek, OH 45430 - 1120
(937) 431-8811
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Seng Tan
sctan@sprintmail.com
1187 Richfield Center
Beavercreek, OH 45430 - 1120
(937) 431-8811
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Space structures that are ultra-lightweight, and have gas barrier property, space durability, radiation resistance, EMI shielding, and high impact resistance are desirable to improve the reliability and provide a safe resting environment for astronauts and electronic equipment housing and protection. Some of the components currently in use such as stations or habitats use double-wall thick films with high internal pressure. Electronic housings made of metals are heavy and need improved EMC protection. Some components are in thin film form and the specific rigidity and dimensional stability needs improvement. Components of landers and vehicles are subject to dust impact. All these solid or hollow components are vulnerable in space because of the foreign object impact or radiation attack. In the Phase I project, we have successfully developed lightweight, microcellular nanocomposite foams and sandwich structures that possess all the desirable properties mentioned above. The nanocomposite sandwich structures have excellent compression-after-impact properties. Phase II project will optimize and scale up the proposed materials and structures for structural components fabrication. The proposed microcellular nanocomposite foam and sandwich structures do not involve or release any toxicity and will have high specific mechanical properties. We will team up with Orbital Sciences Corp. to develop a prototype electronic housing for MACH3 space structure applications.
POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Potential commercial markets for this ultra-low density nanocomposite foams and sandwich structures may include electronic housing for satellites and telecommunication systems; electronic housing and structural components for commercial aircraft, boats, ships, trains, buses, trucks, automobiles; and shipping containers, building panels, and many others.
POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The proposed ultra-lightweight microcellular nanocomposite foam and sandwich structures have a number of potential applications for space structures including electronic housing, space stations, Lunar and Martian habitats, lunar mission vehicles, Landers, rigidified boom and support structures for Gossamer space structures, rover subsystems like wheels, chasis, insulation boxes masts, solar array deployment devices, shelters and hangars for space habitats, airlocks, electronics boxes, tanks/shells/shields, insulation for propellant tanks, solar arrays radar boards, and support structures for telecommunication subsystems like struts and beams, etc.
NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.
TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING |
Airframe
Composites
Data Input/Output Devices
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
Highly-Reconfigurable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Modular Interconnects
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Radiation Shielding Materials
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Reuseable
Thermal Insulating Materials
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Form Generated on 08-02-07 14:39
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