3252. Developing Carbon Foam for Ship Structures
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Paper
Abstract
The U.S. Navy is striving to find ways to build more ships for the same dollar and at the same time improve performance. This requires lower ship acquisition and life cycle costs. To achieve these goals, the Navy and its shipbuilders have implemented various initiatives, many under the domain of ?Lean Manufacturing.? The goals are to lower Navy ship acquisition and life cycles costs and improve American shipyards? ability to compete internationally. Under this domain the Navy has identified the need for new technology and manufacturing/installation methods. Touchstone Research has developed a new price competitive material, carbon foam, which is a possible replacement for current and future applications baselining steel, aluminum, nomex honeycomb, balsa wood and graphite epoxy materials. The material has unique weight, mechanical, electrical, fire resistance and protection, and acoustic properties. Potential applications include bulkheads; fire protection in high risk engine compartments, aircraft and ammunitions storage areas, top-side radar absorption, EMI shielding, ship stacks, blast deflectors. The paper describes the current carbon foam development activities for ship structures and other industries.
