Industry Day - PMC MP Overview.pdf

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AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY

PMC M&P RESEARCH TEAM

H I L M A R K O E R N E R

M A T E R I A L S A N D M A N U F A C T U R I N G D I R E C T O R A T E , M A Y 2 0 2 4

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PMC Materials and Processing

• Materials Discovery

• Synthesis 600oF - 1000oF resins

• Resin discovery via ML/AI

• Geopolymers

• SynBio

• Agile Processing

• Additive Manufacturing and Infusion

• Real-time measurements

• Process modeling & Integrated sensing

• Multifunctional

• Self-healing resins

• MXenes

• Embedded sensing

ML

Domestic, low-cost routes towards high performance, resins

Process automation and part unitization

Agile, low cost processes

Aut

Resilient structures

CF/CNT/epoxy (“sensing” component)

Embedded 3D electrode

Clay/epoxy (insulative sheath)

Ag/epoxy (electrode)

Embedded sensing resin void

Dr. Hilmar Koerner Hilmar.koerner.1@us.af.mil

Design and synthesis of specialty polymers, real-time sensors, processing science, and predictive modeling

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Our Competency: Resin chemistry, 2D materials, characterization, polymer synthesis & processing Data driven science accelerates technology from the lab bench to engineering platform

• High Temp polymers

• Tailored polymers

• Nanocomposites

• Thermosets for 3DP

• Vitrimers

• Physics-based analysis / ICME

• MD / Small scale / Mesoscale

• Multiscale fluid dynamics in resin infusion processes

• Crystallization kinetics during TP PMC processing

Experimentation

• Cure Kinetics

• In situ process sensing

• Out-of-Autoclave Processing

• Additive Manufacturing

• Data analytics

• Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Polymer Chemistry Modeling

Processing• Multi-scale/modal

• characterization

• Novel methods of probing PMC processes

• Processing and Materials in Extreme Environments

• Thermomechanical

• Electromagnetic

• Process Modeling for Low Cost / Limited Life and Exquisite

Increasing Emphasis:

CF/CNT/epoxy (“sensing” component)

Embedded 3D electrode

Clay/epoxy (insulative sheath)

Ag/epoxy (electrode)

ML Aut resin void

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GeopolymersEpoxies PolyimidesPAEK/PEEK Siloxane Glasses

Siloxanes C/C

PMC Team Composite Material Development Ecosystem

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Tailored Carbon Fibers

Simone, Hewitt

Self-Sensing Optical Fiber

Hollow Fibers

Koerner, Nepal

Nepal, Koerner

Fiber Surface Chemistry

PMC Team Composite Material Development Ecosystem

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Geopolymer Composite and Hybrid Research

• Application motivation:

• Geopolymers may provide low-cost high temperature composites and coatings which would enable propulsion and high speed vehicle applications

• Scientific Challenge:

• These materials are brittle, semi-porous, and prone to microcracking

• Also difficult to process into dense composites due to shear-thinning nature

Geopolymer

High Performance Polymer

4 µm 4 µm

Polymer-modified phosphate geopolymer after oxyacetylene torch exposure, showing minimal surface damage

Reduction in porosity in phosphate geopolymer with addition of 5 wt.% polymer

K Alkaline Geopolymer [Davidovits 2017]

Phosphate GP amorphous regions

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High Temperature Multifunctional Polymers Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD)

Air Force Operational Imperative #4

-Develop Polymers that Survive Temperature Extremes (> 330oC) -Improve Toughness with Molecular Level Stress Dampening

-Chiral, Dichroic Polymers Provide In-situ Stress Sensing Capability

Material Design Tailored to Lower Cost, Agile Processing Modalities

Racemic Synthesized Polymers

Thermally Robust Fused Aromatic Rings Largest Dichroism For Any Organic Molecule

Lower Melt Viscosity w/Non-Planar Geometry

Develop Synthetic Methods for Helicene Monomers and Extend to Poly (Helicene) Fibers

Spring-like Toughener & Stress Sensor

Stress Sensing Fiber

Helicenes: Helically Chiral Fused Aromatic Monomers Other Monomer Targets

Tg’s/melt viscosity on par for AM/infusion processing.

5% mass losses in the 5000C range.

Photoluminescent as Uncured Oligomers.

Enantio-separation is Key To Enabling A Dichroic Response in

Molecular and Macromolecular Forms

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Data Science and ML in PMC M&P

Predictive Modeling/Artificial Intelligence

• Processing/Property Relationships via ML

• Novel Materials Discovery and Property Prediction

Data Visualization

• Automated Data Visualization at CHESS

Automation

• Autonomous Batch Reactor and Monodisperse Polymers

• Automation/Robotics Integration in CHESS Beamline

Human-Machine Teaming

• Deep Learning to Enable Down-selection of Reaction Substrate Scope

• Monodisperse Polymer Mechanism Selection and Execution

Data Sharing and Governance (Resilient Information Sharing)

• Stand Up of New AI/ML Laboratory

• Incorporation of Cloud Resources in Research Workflow

• Work with Digital Transformation Team to Provide Insight to Research Data Challenges

PEEK FDM

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AFRL Molecule Maker System

Preliminary Fully Autonomous, Closed-Loop Campaign

In-Line NMR Data Analysis Determines Reaction Endpoints AND the Molecule Maker Self-Optimizes the Reaction

Molecule Maker Hardware Schematic and Work-Flow

NMR provides direct structural evidence of reaction outcomes!

Exact Polymers Enable Tunable Mechanical Properties!

Accelerate the Discovery and Development of Materials

Hewitt, Simone, Armstrong, Reyes, Hooper, Maruyama, Varshney, Mirau, Wheeler, Burke, Angello, et al. Chemical Science, 2023 (Submitted)

Developing Closed Loop Systems that Exploit, Build and Integrate tools for:

Increase the pace of discovery and optimization of molecules and macromolecules for applications that are relevant to national security.

AMD: Accelerated Molecular Discovery

Prof. Chris ReyesProf. Martin Burke

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Mission

• Transform synchrotron x-ray techniques to engineering tools with standards, automation, and mature workflows through service lab

– industry – academia collaborative research

Focus:

• Address design, manufacturing, and materials challenges facing DoD and industry.

Uniqueness

• One of only two high-energy synchrotron sources in the U.S.

• High penetration and microbeam/phase contrast imaging techniques

• Novel access model through partner funding

Capabilities

• Microbeam mapping

• Full field imaging

• Extreme environments (> 1500 oC)

• Absorption tomography

• High energy diffraction microscopy

• Energy dispersive diffraction

SAXS/WAXS microbeam Mapping Full field Imaging

Understanding defects and heterogeneities in thermoplastic PMC manufacturing (automated tape layup) and induction welding

Carbon fiber fitting results

Polymer (110) fitting results

6mm

SAXS

sample x-ray beam

WAXS

0°

60°120°

180° Unit: micrometer

Detecting anomalies in AM of composites Particle alignment, processing effects

Microbeam Mapping of PMCs

Materials Solutions Network at CHESS

Interagency infrastructure Open for measurements

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