
Reduced Flammability Vinyl Ester Resin Containing no Halogens for Use in Large Composite Ship Surface Structures via Nanocomposite TechnologyAward last edited on: 10/5/2005
Sponsored Program
STTRAwarding Agency
DOD : NavyTotal Award Amount
$469,740Award Phase
2Solicitation Topic Code
N01-T006Principal Investigator
Andrew E BrinkCompany Information
Phase I
Contract Number: N00014-01-M-0215Start Date: 7/2/2001 Completed: 1/15/2002
Phase I year
2001Phase I Amount
$69,750Keywords:
Composite, RTM, VARTM, Pultrusion, Nanocomposite, silicate, Flame retardant, vinyl ester
Phase II
Contract Number: N00014-02-C-0519Start Date: 9/30/2002 Completed: 10/23/2004
Phase II year
2002Phase II Amount
$399,990Benefits:
Vinyl ester resins are important matrix resins for thermoset polymer matrix composites. The low room temperature viscosities of the vinyl ester - styrene mixtures coupled with tailorable cure schedules, low cost and excellent mechanical properties make them prime candidates for composites in transportation, infrastructure and marine applications. Flame retardant vinyl ester composites are currently utilized by the Navy as well as in many private industry products. In fact, of the 60 million lbs. of vinyl ester sold into the North American market in 2000, 10% (6 million lbs.) were flame retardant with an annual growth rate of 4%. The current flame retardant technology is dependant on brominated resins. The bromine content provides for a lower heat release, however smoke generation is high and the carbon monoxide generation is even higher than in non-halogenated resins. Another disadvantage of the brominated systems is that the smoke generated during combustion could be both toxic and corrosive. For these reasons, although brominated vinyl esters are currently the best technology available, improvements are still desired. Our proposed non-halogenated, processable nanocomposite vinyl ester resin will provide a significant improvement to the current state of the art