Micro-Composite Fabrication via Field-Aided Laminar Composite (FALCom) Processing

Abstract

A novel composite fabrication process is used to create multi-functional micro-composites, which can be tailored for specific end-use applications. The Field-Aided Laminar Composite (FALCom) process uses specifically focused electric fields to align nano- to micro-sized particles into chain-like structures, which are referred to as pseudo-fibers. These pseudo-fibers are then immediately frozen into place by the laser curing of the photopolymer matrix. The pseudo-fibers are arranged by design, and are used to create three-dimensional composite structures. In this research, multiple filler particles were selected for processing evaluation. Multi-walled carbon nano-tubes, aluminum micro-particles, and alumina micro-particles were aligned and oriented in an acrylic photopolymer matrix. Examples of processing and a review of experimental processing are shown, and conclusions and future work are discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA567078

Entities

People

  • Larry R. Holmes Jr.

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aluminum
  • Amplifiers
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Charged Particles
  • Composite Material Fabrication
  • Composite Materials
  • Electric Fields
  • Fabrication
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Orientation (Direction)
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Polymer Matrix Composites
  • Voltage Amplifiers

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy