Multifunctional Composites with Applications to Energy Performance and Efficiency
Abstract
Multifunctional material systems (MfMS) are material/systems that can perform more than one primary function simultaneously or sequentially in time to enhance system-level performance through the elimination of redundancy between sub-system materials and functions. A system-level performance metric of considerable importance is energy performance and efficiency. Total energy usage in 2009 by US Department of Defense (DoD) has been estimated at ~900 trillion BTU's with approximately 75% of that being consumed for mobility related applications (e.g., aircraft, ships, vehicles, etc.). This paper describes the development of a new class of multifunctional laminate composites with controllable surface morphology at NRL. The current focus is on two-phase (solid-fluid), thin, flexible, skin-like laminates with surface "pore" arrays that are connected to an internal vascular network. These new materials with structural (skin) + surface (morphology control) multifunctionality are being called "poro-vascular composites" or PV composites for short.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA568520
Entities
People
- Alberto Piqué
- James P. Thomas
- K. M. Metkus
- M. H. Merrill
- R. K. Everett
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory