Z-Fiber technology uses small, solid, cylindrical pins to greatly enhance the performance of composite structures. These pins, typically 0.25 to 0.50 mm in diameter, can be used for many structural applications. Z-Fibers, either composite or metal, are insertet through the thickness of a composite laminate to increase out-of-plane strength, damage resistance, and through thickness thermal conductivity. Z-Fiber is also used for structural joints and can be designed to be the structural network of the core material in an extremely weight and cost efficient sandwich structure. Z-Fiber technology has been under development for over ten years. The growth of this technology, originally developed by Foster-Miller Inc., has begun to move at a very accelerated rate under Aztec Inc. during the past two years. Despite this extended development period, the revolutionary advances in the performance of composite structures made possible by this technology are only now becoming fully apparent. When used at the conceptual stage of aircraft design, when the overall structural arrangement is being formulated, Z-Fiber technology can completely change the current design approaches. This paper presents a general overview of Z-Fiber technology and products and focuses on the work to date to form structural joints. The paper demonstrates, even at this early stage of development, Z-Fiber's capability to outperform fasteners and significantly increase the static survivability of composites
Z-fiber technology and products for enhancing composite design
Z-Faser Technologie und Produkte zur Verbesserung von Verbundmaterialkonstruktionen
1997
8 Seiten, 12 Bilder, 1 Tabelle
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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British Library Conference Proceedings | 2014
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