In recent years, composites have replaced aluminum for many aerospace applications because of their superior specific strength and stiffness properties. First developed for military applications, composites now play a significant role in a wide range of current-generation aerospace systems.

NIAR’s Composites and Advanced Materials Laboratory plays a major role in the aviation industry. Researchers and technicians in the Composites Lab perform lay-up and bonding operations and work directly with researchers in the Structures & Fatigue Laboratory to understand the effects of heat, moisture, contamination and repairs on advanced materials. The lab also provides regularly scheduled hands-on training workshops.

CAPABILITIES

  












  • Lay-up
  • Material equivalency testing
  • Material qualification testing
  • Static and cyclic testing (ASTM and non-standard)
  • Physical testing
  • Quality assurance testing
  • Investigation of adhesive behavior
  • Bonded repairs
  • Controlled impact damage
  • Damage tolerance of sandwich panels
  • Aging studies
  • Specimen conditioning
  • Environmental testing (-200F to +600F)
  • Adhesive characterization of fatigued and damaged bonded joints
  • Full-scale structural testing
  • Effects of defects and NDI standards
  • Specimen machining (ASTM and non-standard)
  • Test fixture fabrication
  • NDI of test coupons
  • Strain gauging and specimen QC
  • Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy/ High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Facilities & Equipment

  

 

 

 

 
  • 7,420 sq. ft. laboratory
  • Autoclave (3’ x 5’, 800 degrees F, 200 psi)
  • Environmental chambers for temperature and humidity conditioning
  • Dynamic mechanical analysis units
  • Differential scanning calorimetry
  • Thermogravimetric analyzer
  • Optical microscope with video analysis
  • Stereoscope x350 with hand-held inspection unit
  • Filament winding machine (4-axis)
  • Programmable walk-in oven (8’ L x 5.5’ W x 6’ H, 500 degrees F)
  • Programmable oven (4’ L x 3’ W x 6’ H, 500 degrees F)
  • Ultrasonic NDI unit to perform pulse echo and TTU scans with curved panel capability
  • RTM resin pumps
  • Walk-in freezers (-20 degrees F)
  • Lay-up room
  • Machine shop specialized for composite material processing
  • Instron Dynatup 8250 with environmental chamber
  • X-ray diffractometer
  • Coordinate measuring machine
  • Pheonix 4000 Fully-automated specimen polisher and grinder
  • JEOL 6460LV Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS)
  • 4' by 4' WaterjetPRO cutting table with 30HP 60,000psi max pump and UltraPierce Vacuum Assist
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