N09-03 - August 12, 2009
NCAMP has completed and participated in several qualification and equivalency programs, including:
- 3 Advanced Composites Group MTM45-1 qualification programs with an average of 9 equivalency companies participating per material system.
- Completed more than 75 percent of the testing on Hexcel 8552 IM7.
- Completed more than 75 percent of the testing on Cytec 5250-5 5 Harness.
- Completed more than 30 percent of the testing on Hexcel 8552 AS4 Uni.
Until recently, the number of panels for the NCAMP program overwhelmed the office. Now, more than 2,500 panels have been machined, with less than 800 remaining. The NIAR Composites and Advanced Materials Laboratory, where NCAMP conducts a majority of the material testing, continues to machine approximately 150 NCAMP panels and test approximately 1,000 NCAMP coupons per month.
 | NCAMP has released its base carbon fiber tow material specification NMS 818 along with three detail specifications covering Toho Tenax® carbon fiber. The carbon fiber tow products are produced in accordance with NCAMP approved Process Control Documents (PCD). These are the first aerospace-grade industry non-proprietary carbon fiber specifications with PCD controls ever created.
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Carbon fiber tow material specifications with PCD control have traditionally been a requirement of large aerospace companies such as Boeing and Airbus only.
With these non-proprietary NCAMP material specifications, smaller aircraft companies are now able to take advantage of the added material property control. NCAMP is working closely with Hexcel and Cytec in creating the additional detail specifications. As with all NCAMP documents, draft versions will be posted in the NCAMP portal for member review and comment before they are released.
Program Update
 | The draft documents for Renegade Materials MVK-14 Polyimide FreeForm™ T650 3K qualification (sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab) have been created and are being reviewed by program participants. Canyon Composites (Anaheim, CA) will be fabricating the qualification test panels.
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 | Renegade Materials offered a free three-day training seminar for all MVK-14 FreeForm™ Polyimide/Carbon NCAMP equivalency participants August 25-27. It was an intensive, hands-on course to demonstrate polyimide material handling, tool plate
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selection, lay-up, bagging, application of vacuum, cure and post-cure, de-bagging, and panel quality validation. A complete review of required bagging materials was presented. A tour of Renegade's BMI and polyimide resin and prepreg manufacturing, testing and quality-control operation was also included. Yeow Ng, NCAMP Associate Director, was present to provide details about panel inspection requirements and answer questions about the program requirements.
Several aerospace companies will participate in the equivalency program including ATK Aerospace Structures, ATK Mission Research, BAE Systems, Bell Helicopter, Composites Horizons, GE Aviation, General Dynamics ATP, Goodrich AeroStructures, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and Spirit AeroSystems.
This program will generate basic lamina and laminate material properties from three batches of material at dry and wet conditions ranging from -65°F to 550°F.
Other standard tests include prepreg physical, laminate physical and thermal, out-time and shelf-life, and fluid sensitivity screening such as aviation fuel, jet fuel, hydraulic oils, engine oils, MEK solvent, and deicing fluids. The material will also be evaluated after thermal cycling and thermal oxidation conditions. The data generated under this program, including the material and process specifications, is subject to export control under Department of Defense Distribution Statement X.
What’s Next?
 | NCAMP is preparing for its next round of material selection. The U.S. Air Force Research Lab will fund NCAMP to qualify more materials into its shared material property database. Funds are available to qualify two prepreg resin systems (two product forms for each resin system). NCAMP is particularly interested in prepreg resin systems with the following characteristics:
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(1) Out-of-autoclave cure medium toughness epoxy
(2) High toughness epoxy system.
(3) A minimum of 180°F wet operating temperature (i.e. wet Tg of 230°F or higher); higher operating temperature is desirable
(4) Easy to process - the out-of-autoclave system should have demonstrated capability of achieving near zero void content laminates
(5) High Mode I Interlaminar Fracture Toughness
(6) Demonstrated robustness in producing large panels (about 3' by 3' minimum) with bend radius, ply drop-offs, thick and thin sections, and integral stiffeners typically found in aircraft airframe structures
(7) Demonstrated robustness in co-cure/ co-bond applications
(8) Matured resin formulation and prepregging operation by October 2009 (i.e. able to lock down PCD under revision control by October 2009 to begin prepreg production)
(9) Able to develop a robust cure cycle and test panel process specification by November 2009 (will require some production experiments of small and large panels)
As in the past, there will be a democratic voting process, with the material receiving the most points winning. In the ballot, the following questions will be asked for each resin system.
(1) Would you like to see this material qualified into the NCAMP shared database?
(2) Do you have an immediate need for this material?
(3) Are you or your sub-contractor willing to make test panels for this material?
Although the U.S. Air Force Research Lab may impose certain distribution restriction on the data, all participants (materials suppliers and panel fabricators) in the NCAMP program must be willing to share the data with the public. Participants may not claim ownership of the data due to their participation.
Similar to the previous rounds of material selection, material suppliers will be asked to provide the materials for testing at no charge to NCAMP. Material users will be asked to provide labor to fabricate the panels, panel conformity inspection, and postage to send the panels to NCAMP. Under no circumstances will NCAMP ask the participants to share information that is proprietary to the participants.
The prepregs will be manufactured by early next year and the test panels will be due by the second quarter of 2010. The testing programs are scheduled to be complete by the first quarter of 2011.
