SBIR-STTR Award

Rigid Wall Shelters (RWS) are an integral building block for Marine Corp operations and support a multitude of operational needs from maintenance and repair operations to command posts and medical operations. There are several key operational deficiencies with metal RWS, the weight of legacy systems and lack of insulation result in a high cost to transport and difficulty heating and cooling interior spaces, respectively. In response to these challenges, a concerted effort by Core Composites has been place on developing a new class of Composite RWS (CRWS) using composite construction methods. The next step in their evolution is to provide electromagnetic shielding against a full spectrum of operational threats. Conductive Composites Company (CCC) mitigates these issues through a unique shielding composite materials based on Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of nickel on a variety of material substrates. The knowledge gained by Core Composites efforts, and our own, will be directly applicable to the new EMI CRWS. We will combine CCC materials and Cores multi-side infusion technique to deliver an EMI RWS that meets the stated requirements.

Benefit:
Provide enhanced EMI CRWS enabling a new class of shelters for command, control, and medical applications. System will shield agains low frequency and high frequency electromagnetic threats and will transition to first responder and other commercial applications.

Keywords:
Shielded Composite Rigid Wall Shelter, Shielded Composite Rigid Wall Shelter

Rigid Wall Shelters (RWS) are an integral building block for Marine Corp operations and support a multitude of operational needs from maintenance and repair operations to command posts and medical operations. There are several critical operational deficiencies with metal RWS. The weight of legacy systems and lack of insulation result in a high cost to transport and difficulty heating and cooling interior spaces, respectively. Corrosion and the cost of repairs is also a contributing factor to the need for composite shelters. Next generation composite shelters in both expandable and non-expandable variants are proven. However, these past developments lacked sufficient electromagnetic shielding. The purpose of this SBIR Phase II effort is to develop Electro-Magnetic Interference Composite Rigid Wall Shelter (EMI CRWS). We proposed under Phase I to combine our advanced multi-functional composite materials with proven composite shelter design as a low-risk, high-payoff approach to achieving an EMI CRWS in a non-expandable form factor. A fully functional and working prototype will be designed, fabricated and delivered - integration ready - under this Phase II effort.

Benefit:
The advanced technology has many potential benefits that result in lower life-cycle cost and/or total cost of ownership. First, composites are inherently corrosion resistant and thus can be deployed across a diversity of environments, providing greater mission flexibility. Composites are also field repairable, which has the potential to eliminate very costly depot repair. Composites also offer higher insulation, lowering the cost of heating and cooling of the shelter. In turn, the size, weight, and fuel consumption required for the auxiliary systems can also be reduced. The weight of composite shelters is also lower, providing logistical savings through reduced transport cost. Lastly, the RF shielding levels offered by composites are equivalent to what can be accomplished with aluminum or steel. In addition to these benefits, composites will continue to evolve and incorporate additional multi-functionality that is not practical with metal structures. For example, smart composite shelters could be designed that incorporate sensor technology and/or low voltage power distribution.

Keywords:
Shielded Shelters, Composite Shelters, EMI Shelter, Rigid Wall Shelters, Electromagnetic Shielded Shelter, Shielded Command Post Shelter