Coming of Age: NASA’s Role in Lightweight Composite Structures for Flight Vehicles

Darrel Tenney

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. at the Virginia Air and Space Center in downtown Hampton, Virginia. FREE (no reservations).

Abstract

Materials and energy are the basic components on which all civilizations have advanced. The development of improved materials has coincided with changes in society, with the greatest impact being on tools and transportation. Progress in the use of materials started with wood, a natural composite material, transitioned to metals (Bronze Age, Iron Age), and has come full circle to composite materials such as fiber reinforced polymers, metals, and ceramics. The driver for the development of composite materials has been the desire to reduce weight and increase performance. This has been accomplished by embedding ultrahigh strength and stiffness fibers into weaker matrix materials. The ability to tailor the properties by aligning fibers in the primary load directions allows engineers to optimize structures for flight loads. NASA has played a major role in the development of advanced composites for aircraft and space launch vehicles. The major obstacles in developing composites for advanced flight vehicles and future challenges for the next generation of materials, with embedded intelligence and adaptive capabilities, will be discussed.

Speaker

Dr. Tenney is a former Chief of the Materials Division and former Director of the Vehicle Systems Program at NASA Langley. During his 30-year NASA career, he received two Presidential Rank Awards for outstanding technical leadership and contributions to NASA. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Virginia Tech. He is frequently invited as a keynote speaker at National and International Conferences. He is the principal author on a recent book for NASA Structural Framework for Flight, which examines the many contributions NASA has made to the development of advanced composite materials.

Shelia Thibeault is hosting our speaker this month.