The TM2 team proposes Alcv, an innovative Al composite material with stellar corrosion resistance, better elongation, formability, and strength performance beyond most Al alloys. High strength Al covetic is an Al alloy infused with 5% or more covalently bonded nano Carbon. TM2 coined the term Covetic 0x9D to describe the alloy microstructure where nano C is infused into the molecular structure and serves as a covalent net that binds the Al. This material offers favorable nano tailored properties including thermal conductivity. Alcv material has synergistic properties due to the nano C infusion that produces a fine grain structure. Alcv 6061 covetic extruded lab samples have demonstrated exceptional elongation, toughness and corrosion resistance superior to the baseline Al 6061-T6. Alcv foam will be fabricated with the same technique as for commercial Al foam. Alcv foam can be fabricated because lab experiments show that when the Alcv is melted the Al and nano Carbon do not separate and thus the foam will retain the covetic corrosion resistant and thermal conductivity properties. The high specific surface area, low density and closed cell Alcv foam offers a combination of properties ideally suited for this Navy application when coupled with Alcv face sheets.
Benefit: The Teams Phase III goals are the development of an enormously productive Alcv sandwich manufacturing process primarily for Navy aircraft applications. TM2 is open to productionize this process in partnership with any MISATS aircraft manufacturer members. MISATS members will have a proportional revenue sharing agreement with TM2. The team will ensure that high Navy need parts/components applications are thoroughly studied in the STTR R&D. So in Phase III we can credibly approach the Navy OEMs such as Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, etc. who make the target aircraft parts/components and offer 2 options: 1. License the material and process to them 2. Manufacture these parts/components for them under contract. The revenue potential is of the order of 1% of the airframe market in specialized retrofit parts/components and so is worth over $100 Million annually. This will require $55 million investment for manufacturing factory, furnaces set-up for a continuous flow process, LWB and robotic arm tooling and test equipment as well as design qualification and certification staff experts. We will also endeavor to take advantage of the DOD Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) to create the organizational partnership. We hope that a CPP partnership with the Navy and perhaps jointly with other DOD organizations can blossom into a major program that can provide DOD with decisive performance gains.
Keywords: aluminum covetics, aluminum covetics,, light weight structures, advanced materials, corrosion resistant materials, foamed aluminum
