Aerospace and Military

Aerospace and military markets are among the most challenging markets for plastics. Aerospace applications are generally decided upon when a new 

Military applications tend to be more dispersed than aerospace applications, however, often with relatively small potential volumes, plus a somewhat longer application development, approval, and procurement cycle. Fortunately, product life cycles tend to be relatively long. Both aerospace and military markets tend to be kinder to material suppliers than processors. Once a material specification is written around a particular product tightly enough, end users and your competitors alike will have difficulty justifying the time and cost required to qualify alternate sources. 

Military parts contracts, on the other hand, are generally put up for bids periodically, so a processor has to defend the business regularly. Despite these limitations, a number of aerospace and military applications can offer a relatively steady business with somewhat less price pressure than is seen in many other end uses, because of the resistance to qualifying multiple sources. Consequently, the number of competitors tends to be limited. 

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Composites. Various composite materials have evolved over the years as a significant class of high performance textile products. The prototype composite is carbon fiber with an epoxy resin matrix for stmctural akcraft components and other aerospace and military appHcations. Carbon fiber composites ate also used in various leisure and spotting items such as golf clubs, tennis rackets, and lightweight bicycle frames. However, other types of appHcations and composites ate also entering the marketplace. For example, short ceUulose fiber/mbbet composites ate used for hoses, belting, and pneumatic tire components. 

The PEEK resia is marketed as aeat or filled pellets for iajectioa mol ding, as powder for coatiags, or as preimpregaated fiber sheet and tapes. Apphcations iaclude parts that are exposed to high temperature, radiation, or aggressive chemical environments. Aerospace and military uses are prominent. At present, polyamideimide (PAl) resia and poly(arylene sulfides) are the main competitors for apphcations requiring service temperatures of 280°C. At lower temperatures, polyethersulfones, amorphous nylons, and polyetherimides (PEI) can be considered. 

U.S. market is about 20 million pounds per year. The applications are those where one needs very high flame resistance (clothing for firefighters and welders, welder s protective shield, upholstery and drapes), heat resistance (ironing board covers, insulation film for electrical motors and transformers, aerospace and military), dimensional stability (fire hose, V- and conveyor belts), or strength and modulus (circuit boards, bulletproof vests, fiber optic and power lines, ship mooring ropes, automobile tire cord, puncture-resistant bicycle tires). 

Though these alkaline silver-zinc batteries are quite expensive, they are frequently used in aerospace and military applications because they have high specific and volumetric energy density. These batteries may be kept in a dry state for several years and may be activated by introducing the electrolyte into the cells. Their status of technology and applications was presented by Karpinski et al. [346]... 

Plastics for the engineering applications we have just discussed will find some use in practically any industry you can name. You have all seen such lists in the trade literature but, again, for a general background here are a few such user areas aerospace and military, appliances, business machines and other electrical-electronics equip-... 

FIGURE 5.7 O-rings for different applications. (Courtesy of Daikin.) 5.1.9.2 Typical Aerospace and Military Applications... 

The primary use of titanium alloys is in the aerospace and military industry where the high-strength-to-weight ratio and the resistance to high temperatures are of interest. Titanium and its alloys are corrosion-resistant to many environments such as oil production and refinery, chemical process, and pulp and paper industries. It was estimated in 1998 that 65% of mill products were used in aerospace applications and 35% were used in other applications (12). The most common form of titanium used is titanium sponge, which is produced in the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The price of titanium increased from 2 per pound in 1960 to 4 per pound in 1980-1990. The price of titanium is very much dependent on the aerospaee industry. 

The wide applications of nitroglycerine in medicine, cUnic, aviation, aerospace, and military have been studied in many references [9, 10, 88-91] and will be discussed in this book. 

Vacuum Bag Molding. To improve compaction of hand or spray laid assem-bhes, the wet product is covered with a release film such as polyvinyl alcohol, nylon, or silicone rubber. The edges of the film are clamped and sealed to the edge flanges of the mold. An internal vacuum is pumped, so atmospheric pressure presses the film down onto the product. Hand roller pressure helps the process. This squeezes out air bubbles and excess resin and results in a denser product with a better inside surface. The extra work adds to the cost, so this is used mainly in the aerospace and military fields, where the improved quality is worth the cost. 

Polyimides These expensive resins are hot cured and used primarily in aerospace and military applications in which their superior thermomechanical properties justify their cost premium (see Polyimide adhesives). 

Whether or not it is true, I do not like to think of polyurethanes in such terms, simply because these materials can have an excellent durability and lifetime expectancy they are currently used for the most severe applications in industries such as aerospace and military applications. The inherent strength of these materials is vital in the building of other external structures which are subjected to high levels of weight, impact and weathering. 

Abstract Over the past twenty-five years there have been a number of initiatives worldwide to develop guidelines and standards to enable the safe exploitation of programmable eleetronie systems used for safety applieations. In the eontext of industrial applieations (to distinguish fi"om aerospace and military applieations) a major initiative has been foeused on lEC 61508, and other standards based on lEC 61508, whieh have emerged as key international standards. 

Composites 5 Aircraft, aerospace and military, cars parts, construction parts of boats, yachts and railcars, surfboards, ski, snowboards, sport rackets, hang gliders, helmets, pipes, tanks, containers, gas bottles, scrubbers, pultruded structural parts... 

Modern portable electronics devices have been used in many industrial, commercial, residential, aerospace, and military applications. Recently, due to the high demand for energy conservation, power electronics are gaining great attention in the area of energy efficiency. 

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