Assessment of the DARPA Affordable Polymer Matrix Composites Programs.

Abstract

This document is a technical assessment of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Affordable Polymer Matrix Composite (PMC) program. The projects under this program were initiated to develop and demonstrate technologies that would reduce the acquisition costs of composites for high performance air vehicles and other platforms by 30+ percent, develop a composite structure equal to or lower than the cost of a metallic structure for transports and other 'lower performance' applications, and reduce prototype tooling costs and lead times by 40+ percent. The projects that were originally planned had to refocus their efforts and/or finish earlier than planned. This document summarizes the technical achievements of these projects, assesses the readiness of the technologies for systems applications, and discussed the process and exit criteria that were developed to assess the technology readiness.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA332907

Entities

People

  • Lisa C. Veitch

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Composite Aircraft
  • Composite Materials
  • Composite Structures
  • Engineering
  • Fuselages
  • Manufacturing
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Polymer Matrix Composites
  • Prototypes
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Structures.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.