Fiber-reinforced syntactic foam composites and method of forming same
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A fiber-reinforced syntactic foam composite having a specific gravity less than 1.0 and a coefficient of thermal expansion of about 25×
- 10-6 in/in/°
F. (45×
10-6 cm/cm/°
C.) or less and being suitable for use in the outer space environment, the composite being prepared from an admixture comprising a heat curable thermosetting resin, hollow microspheres having a diameter in the range of about 5 to about 200 micrometers and fibers having a length less than or equal to 250 micrometers.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Fiber-reinforced syntactic foam composites having a low specific gravity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion suitable for forming lightweight structures for spacecraft applications are prepared from a mixture of a heat curable thermosetting resin, hollow microspheres having a diameter of about 5 to 200 micrometers and fibers having a length less than or equal to 250 micrometers.
-
Citations
39 Claims
-
1. A fiber-reinforced syntactic foam composite having a specific gravity less than 1.0 and a coefficient of thermal expansion of about 25×
- 10-6 in/in/°
F. (45×
10-6 cm/cm/°
C.) or less and being suitable for use in the outer space environment, the composite being prepared from an admixture comprising a heat curable thermosetting resin, hollow microspheres having a diameter in the range of about 5 to about 200 micrometers and fibers having a length less than or equal to 250 micrometers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25)
- 10-6 in/in/°
-
22. A fiber-reinforced syntactic foam composite having a specific gravity less than 1.0 and a coefficient of thermal expansion of about 13×
- 10-6 in/in/°
F. (23×
10-6 cm/cm/°
C.) or less and being suitable for use in the outer space environment, said composite comprising;(a) a heat curable thermosetting epoxy resin comprising a mixture of tetraglycidyl methylene dianiline, nadic methyl anhydride, and benzyldimethylaniline; (b) hollow glass microspheres having a mean diameter of about 75 micrometers; and (c) graphite fibers having a length of about 150 micrometers and a diameter of about 8 micrometers.
- 10-6 in/in/°
-
26. A method for fabricating a fiber-reinforced syntactic foam composite which comprises the steps of:
-
(a) admixing a heat curable thermosetting resin, hollow microspheres having a diameter in the range of about 5 to about 200 micrometers and fibers having a length less than or equal to 250 micrometers to form a mixture of the resin, microspheres and fibers; and (b) curing the mixture of the resin, microspheres, and fibers in a mold of predetermined geometry to a thermoset state to provide a composite structure containing about 35 to about 65 volume percent microspheres and about 3 to about 10 volume percent fibers disposed throughout the resin matrix, and the resin comprising the balance of the composite, wherein the composite has a specific gravity of less than 1.0 and a coefficient of thermal expansion about 13×
10-6 in/in/°
F. (23×
10-6 cm/cm/°
C.) or less and is suitable for use in the outer space environment. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
Specification