NAWCWD Techlink Quick Facts

NAWCWD – TechLink Quick Facts

Patent Marketing Summary Title / Ships, Jets, and TanksMade from Plastic – Lighter and Stronger than Steel
Patent Marking Summary Sub-title / New Resins Show Great Promise for Future Weapons Systems
VITAL STATISTICS
Patent # / 8530693 / Patent Date (MM/DD/YYYY) / 10/09/2013 / Branch of Military / U.S. Navy
DoD Lab / Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California
Patent Title / Liquid Cyanate Esters
What is it / Chemical substance / TechLink to Patent
Inventors / Davis, Matthew C. (Ridgecrest, CA)
OFFICIAL PATENT ABSTRACT
A method for making liquid cyanate esters. Embodiments of the invention address the problems with solid cyanate esters by creating new cyanate ester structures that are liquid at room temperature. These liquid cyanate esters may be useful for the typical composite fabrication methods including, but not limited to, infusion molding, prepeg consolidation, resin, and vacuum transfer molding.
MARKETING SUMMARY
Existing Technology
DoD and private industry are constantly searching for technologies to reduce fossil fuel consumption in order to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Reducing the weight of vehicles is key.
New Technology
Scientists at China Lake, California, have created a remarkable new resin that could be usedto make futuristic ships and jets that are as light as plastic and as strong as steel.
Plastics and composites are being used more and more in place of steel to reduce weight, which is the key cost component. For example, in 2009 Boeing conducted the maiden flight of its Boeing 787 airliner, nicknamed the Dreamliner, which is the first airliner to use 50% composite materials making the aircraft 20% more fuel efficient. While revolutionary, the Boeing 787 is designed as a long-haul, wide-body twin-engine jet with a maximum speed of approximately 600 mph or 0.78 mach. However, for DoD military applications such as supersonic jets and missiles, speeds are much greater and engine and exhaust systems much hotter. For example, Boeing military jets now exceed Mach 2.5 and high-speed missile exhaust temperatures now exceed1,500 degrees Celsius (°C). New, lighter, and stronger composites are needed.
China Lake answered the call by developing a new thermally stable liquid cyanate ester. This high-performance resinis easily transformed into military prototypes of the future by simple injection molding processes. By easily combining inexpensive off-the-shelf carbon fibers into the mix, scientists can easily make an unlimited number of high-strength, temperature-resistant, weapons and systems of the future that are as light as plastic and as strong or stronger than steel. Jets, ships, tanks, vehicles, helmets, and body armor can also be produced. The applications are endless.
How It Works
China Lake conceived and synthesized the new cyanate ester and tested it for thermal stability. The product is liquid at room temperature and can be easily poured into a mold. The material can be heated to cause a change in physical state creating an extremely tough plastic that is resistant to high temperatures. The tricyanate estersare liquids owing to a mixture of isomers. The cyanate esters have a (Tg) greater than 300 °C; therefore composites made from them are very thermally stable and do not change their shape when heated.The compounds were synthesized in a six-step process useful to a wide variety of typical composite fabrication including infusion molding, prepeg consolidation, resin, and vacuum transfer molding.
Who Benefits
Applications for lighter weight, temperature-resistant, and high-strength composites for military and civilian applications are endless.
BENEFITS (Prioritized Bulleted List)
Major Benefits

Thermal stability
Increased strength to weight ratio
Fuel economy
Decreased radar signature

OPPORTUNITY
Applicable Industries / Customers
New technology benefits all types of forensic agencies including local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and military forensic units. Specific major companies currently working in this field include: Lonza, Huntsman Composites, and TenCate Advanced Composites, as well as others.
Technical Readiness Level (TRL) (1-10) / 1 / Available for License (Yes/No) / Yes / Express Licensing (Yes/No) / Yes
Prototype Available (Yes/No) / Partial
Description
The first prototype created was a puck approximately the size of pencil eraser. The next step is to scale up to a larger “dog bone” size test sample that could be thoroughly tested in a mechanical engineering laboratory.Developmental costs were approximately $100K.
Prototype Testing Description
The item has undergone initial temperature testing on a tiny prototype, but no large-scale test item has been created and no strength testing has been conducted. The small test item was heated up in a thermo gravimetric analyzer and tested to 600 °Cwith a final char yield of 40% (60% was burned.)By comparison, a similar test using typical commercial epoxies would have had a 100% disintegration rate. However, in follow-up testing the new China Lake resin achieved a 100% char rate (no degradation) at a maximum temperature of 300 degrees Celsius. Therefore, for most applications (airframe body and wings not in the immediate engine area) the airframe composite must be able to comfortably withstand temperatures of 315 to 500 C. Under these parameters, the new resin developed at China Lake would stand up to demanding military requirements. Test data collected to date appears extremely promising. The next step would be to scale up the production of the resin to create a large-scale test sample that could be thoroughly tested in a mechanical engineering laboratory.
Other Related Patents

Process for the production of arylcyanate: US 5932762.
Cyanato group containing phenolic resins, phenolic triazines derived therefrom: US 4831086 A

Key Search Terms(alphabetical order)
cyanate ester, polymers, thermal stability, thermoset
POINTS OF CONTACT
Patent Contact Name / Marti Elder / Phone / 406-586-7621 / Email /

Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. PR# 17-0277