N121-058 TITLE: Surface Combatant Composite Mid-Frequency Sonar Dome

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PEO-IWS 5.0 for the AN/SQQ-90 Undersea Warfare System, ACAT I

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN CITIZENS (i.e., those holding non-U.S. Passports): This topic is "ITAR Restricted". The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120 - 130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data. Foreign Citizens may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign citizen who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal will be rejected.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this project is to develop innovative materials for improved surface ship sonar domes by utilizing unique methods for co-mingling fibers into fabrics, and manufacturing composite parts from these unique fabrics using state-of-the-art manufacturing processes.

DESCRIPTION: In order to meet requirements to improve performance and lower acquisition and maintenance costs of sonar domes, the Navy is seeking new materials and fabrication techniques for sonar domes that will be installed on future combatants. The current baseline mid-frequency sonar dome material for certain surface combatant classes is Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP). Although this is a proven material, the Navy believes improvements can be made in the mechanical robustness, acoustic performance, and ease of manufacturing of sonar domes. Such advances could be accomplished by utilizing more advanced composite materials that mix and align (co-mingle) different types of fibers. One of the challenges will be to apply this new composite material technology to the unique shape and size of future surface combatant mid-frequency sonar domes, while taking advantage of the potential performance improvements.

This Navy seeks to utilize state-of-the-art composite materials and manufacturing processes for mid-frequency sonar domes. The investigation should include material science innovation and finite element modeling of proposed designs. This work should include building and testing (mechanically and acoustically) coupons and panels of new, high strength, low insertion loss sonar dome composite materials for mid-frequency sonar applications.

PHASE I: The focus will be on conducting studies and analyses of innovative, co-mingled composite materials and sonar dome designs. The feasibility will be assessed by conducting material testing and analytical modeling of small-scale test coupons and panels. This testing and modeling will include mechanical and acoustic testing on the test specimens and will lead to further development in Phase II. A Phase II development plan with performance goals and key technical milestones will be provided.

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and consistent with the Phase II development plan provided in Phase I, mechanical and acoustic testing on larger-scale panels of the developed composite material(s) will be conducted, and a full-scale prototype of a future surface combatant sonar dome will be built. The prototype will be evaluated to determine the ability to meet Navy requirements. A Phase III development plan to transition the technology to Navy use will be provided.

PHASE III: If a Phase III contract is awarded, the contractor will build and conduct testing on an optimized (taking into account Phase II test results), full-scale, sonar dome that has the potential for ship installation and testing. The company will support at-sea testing and data analysis for incorporation into Navy systems. The company will also conduct studies for further acoustic and mechanical optimization of the dome.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This technology has potential applications in the underwater oil exploration industry by developing improved composite materials that can be used in towed and hull mounted acoustic systems.

REFERENCES:
1. Kinsler, Frey, Coppens and Sanders, Fundamentals of Acoustics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1982.

2. Urick, Principles of Underwater Acoustics, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1983.

3. Jones, R.M., Mechanics of Composite Materials, Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, New York, 1999.

4. MIL 17 The Composite Materials Handbook, Volume 3: Polymer Matrix Composites: Materials Usage, Design, and Analysis, 2002.

KEYWORDS: sonar; composites; domes; acoustics; windows; undersea

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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