Multifunctional Carbon Foam Composite Core

摘要

The purpose of this study was to see if multifunctional attributes such as acoustical absorption, electrical shielding, low thermal conductivity, fire protection and other traits could be built into a single lightweight composite utilizing carbon foam. This study compares the performance of carbon foam core composite panels with other typical composite materials such as balsa, honeycombs, and other foams. Results of test panels utilizing multifunctional carbon foam cores indicate that cost and space savings can be realized when compared to sandwich panels fabricated from multiple single-property materials. Carbon foam cores presented in this study can have compressive strengths ranging from 500 psi up to 3,000 psi and also can be electrical or thermal insulators or conductors, depending on the application requirements. With such a wide range of properties to choose from in a single material, one major question is whether engineers would consider use of multifunctional materials such as this if the core densities are higher than their traditional lightweight cores. Overall, it may be possible to have a totally reduced panel density using such multifunctional materials because of the elimination of one or more of the other materials.