Large, single-piece composite structures for NASA launch vehicles are currently very expensiveor impossible to fabricate partly because of the capital (ovens, autoclaves, and tooling) needed tocure the part and maintain tolerances at cure conditions. Cornerstone Research Group's (CRG)no-oven, no-autoclave (NONA) technology enables the fabrication of high-performancecomposite parts without the limitations imposed by autoclaves, ovens, and other conventionalmanufacturing processes. In a Phase I NASA SBIR effort, CRG used NONA technology in thefabrication of a 20-ply, 0.91 m by 2.13 m (3'× 7') carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy compositepanel and an aluminum honeycomb core sandwich structure (HC/SS) composite to demonstrateNONA's true feasibility for manufacturing large, single-piece, high-performance compositestructures without an oven or autoclave. With a glass transition temperature (T_g) of 200 °C, thebaseline NONA resin is appropriate for numerous structural, repair, and tooling applications.Both the large panel and the HC/SS composite were characterized for T_g, fiber volume, degree ofcure, and void content. The dense laminate was also characterized in short beam shear (SBS) andunderwent non-destructive evaluation (NDE). Flatwise tensile (FWT) testing was performed onthe honeycomb composite.
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