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governed by the matrix properties and typically ranges from 20 to 35 / C. Most applications of composites have plies oriented at various angles, producing a net CTE in between the longitudinal and transverse values, depending on the specic layup. Shown in Fig. 2 are values for the CTE of carbon ber/epoxy composite laminates for various layups. For laminates with plies at various angles, ber stiffness signicantly affects the total laminate CTE since the reinforcement bers are much stiffer than the polymer matrix. In general for angle ply laminates, as ber stiffness increases, the net laminate CTE will decrease. This is a major reason why ultrahigh modulus bers are often selected for precision spacecraft components. Although the low CTE of composite laminates is an extremely valuable characteristic, it can lead to new design problems, such as CTE mismatches in metalto-composite bonded interfaces. Careful attention must be given to thermal strains to prevent bond failure or part deformation. Furthermore, because spacecraft often use a combination of composites and metals, the thermal expansion of the complete structure must be analyzed to ensure that stress levels and deformations stay within allowable limits over the entire temperature range.
High Specic Stiffness and Strength

The most common reason for using advanced composites is mass reduction. Unidirectional high modulus carbon ber composites can have a longitudinal stiffness greater than 550 GPa. This is 8.5 times greater than the specic stiffness (stiffness/density) of most engineering metals, all of which have approximately the same specic stiffness (see Table 2). Because unidirectional laminates have low transverse strength and stiffness, they are not commonly used in real applications. Instead, laminates containing plies oriented at various angles are designed according to the principle and secondary loads. Although the specic

Fig. 2 Longitudinal CTE for typical graphite reinforced laminates.

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18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
[0/ +4 5/45 /90 ]S [0/ +6 0/60 ]S [0/ +4 5/45 ]S [0/ +1 5/15 ]S Alu mi nu m [0]

Fig. 3 Comparison of specic stiffness of various IM7 / 8552 laminates normalized to specic stiffness of aluminum.

strength and stiffness of angle-plied laminates is less than that of unidirectional laminates, it is still superior to metals. Shown in Fig. 3 is the specic stiffness of IM7/8552 carbon ber/epoxy laminates for various lay-ups. Note that since the specic stiffness is greatest for a unidirectional lay-up, careful selection of lay-up is key to achieving maximum mass savings.
Thermal Conductivity

Recent interest in using composites for electronics enclosures has led to higher thermal loads being placed on composite structures. In fact, in electronics enclosure applications for spacecraft, the thermal demands are often more important than mechanical considerations.4 Modern pitch-based bers that have thermal conductivity exceeding that of aluminum have been developed to help meet these new demands (Table 3). The thermal conductivity of composite laminates is similar to their mechanical characteristics in that they are highly directional and sensitive to matrix selection

Normalized Specific Stiffness

Table 3 Comparison of Typical Pitch Fiber Thermal Conductivities with Aluminum5 Fiber Fiber Conductivity (W / mC) Quasi-isotropic Laminate Conductivity (W / mC)

Amoco K1100 Mitsubishi K13C NGF YS-90A Amoco P55 Aluminum

1100 640 500 120 167

322 188 151 37 167

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and lay-up. For typical carbon ber composites, the transverse and through-thethickness thermal conductivity is three to four orders of magnitude less than the longitudinal thermal conductivity. Although this is often viewed as a disadvantage of composites, it can be exploited to design specic thermal paths within component modules.5 Often a quasi-isotropic lay-up is chosen to simplify thermal and mechanical analysis, but they are generally not optimal for structural efciency. Unfortunately, analytical prediction of the thermal conductivity properties for various laminates has proven difcult and quasi-isotropic lay-ups are therefore selected to simplify design.
EMI Shielding and Electrical Characteristics

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is an important concern for most space ight programs. Shielding mitigates the effect of high-energy solar radiation and is used to isolate instruments from one another. Conventional EMI shields are made of metals such as aluminum and tantalum. Many studies have been done evaluating the use of composite materials for electronics enclosures with the primary aim of reducing the total mass of the enclosures while maintaining acceptable EMI shielding levels. A typical shielding level required for spacecraft is 60 dB for a frequency range from 0.10 to 18 GHz.6 Although carbon bers are inherently electrically conductive, laminates with carbon ber reinforcements generally do not provide adequate EMI shielding when used alone. Several approaches to increase the level of shielding have been studied by various groups. Common approaches to increase the shielding effectiveness include the addition of metal foil or mesh to the laminate, coating the nished laminate with metal, or the use of metalcoated bers within the composite plies.7 Many research groups have measured the shielding effectiveness of carbon ber-reinforced composite laminates. The standard test method follows MILSTD-285 or some variation thereof. Although this standard was originally intended to test the shielding effectiveness of enclosures used in EMI testing, it is widely used as a procedure to test materials, gaskets, ventilation panels, and apertures. The test procedure consists of placing a radiation source and a receiving antenna on opposite sides of a shielded room with a shielded barrier between them. The material to be tested is placed over an aperture in the barrier and the signal strength at the receiving antenna is measured. The signal loss is then taken as the shielding effectiveness. Test results consistently indicate that the shielding characteristics of unaugmented carbon ber composites are much more similar to metals than to plastics. By adding solid metal laminations or coatings to composite laminates, the shielding effectiveness is roughly equivalent to that of solid aluminum. For multipiece shield assemblies, experimental testing has shown that joint surface contact resistance is critical for shielding effectiveness. Consequently, nickel and silver are sometimes selected over aluminum or copper because of their superior oxidation resistance. Recently, highly conductive polymers have been investigated to increase the shielding effectiveness of composites and eliminate the need for metal coatings.

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Additionally, research into using high conductivity boron interculated graphite bers (boron placed into the interstices of the graphite bers) has produced promising results.8
Environmental Durability

The impact of space environmental effects on materials is dependent on the type of mission, and more importantly, the orbit in which the spacecraft operates.9 The orbital space is generally divided into three regions based on orbit altitude: low-Earth orbit (LEO, up to 1000 km), mid-Earth orbit (MEO, 100035,000 km), and geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO, 35,000 and higher). The types and intensities of various environmental effects depend greatly on orbit altitude and inclination. In this section the effects of various environmental factors on advanced polymer matrix composite materials will be discussed, each of which produce distinct effects on materials. The relative importance of each of these effects is a function of the orbital placement and must be evaluated for each mission. The predominant environmental factors inuencing spacecraft are (1) atomic oxygen, (2) ultraviolet radiation/solar exposure, (3) micrometeroid and debris impact, (4) thermal cycling induced microcracking, (5) contamination, (6) vacuum-induced outgassing, (7) spacecraft charging, and (8) environmental synergistic effects. Of these, atomic oxygen, vacuum-induced outgassing, and thermal cyclinginduced microcracking are of unique concern to polymer matrix composites. The following discussion of space environmental effects on composites is based on Silverman,9 and the reader is referred to it for further explanation. Atomic Oxygen Effects. Atomic oxygen erodes organic materials causing surface recession and degradation of optical and thermal properties. Experimental results from the long-duration exposure facility (LDEF) clearly demonstrate that atomic oxygen in LEO will erode all polymeric materials, including those commonly used on spacecraft for thermal and electrical insulation, as paint vehicles, and as composite matrix materials. The rate of erosion varies for different materials, and in some cases is a function of exposure time. Although there is no simple way to predict the susceptibility of certain materials to atomic oxygen erosion, a broad database has been collected that can be used for preliminary material screening. Of particular interest is data that conrms that polycyanate matrices have much lower atomic oxygen reactivity than epoxy matrices. The amount of surface recession due to erosion is directly proportional to the atomic oxygen uence (total integrated ux), hence the recession on a particular surface is dependent on its location on the spacecraft and the surface attitude relative to the ight path, spacecraft altitude, orbit inclination, and solar activity conditions. In selecting materials for spacecraft, the designer must be aware of atomic oxygen effects and calculate the total amount of surface erosion that will occur. If this value is considered unacceptable, protective coatings that have low atomic oxygen reactivity may be indicated. Materials successfully used as coating materials include extremely thin metals, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, and silicone room temperature vulcanization (RTV).

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Vacuum-Induced Outgassing. Polymer matrix composites tend to outgas due to moisture desorption or evolution of volatiles within the material. The expelled gases can be especially detrimental to optical instruments and solar cells aboard the spacecraft. Surfaces may be obscured by condensed outgassing products or local clouds may be formed that affect sensitive instrument readings. Additionally, molecular contamination from outgassing can degrade the performance of thermal control surfaces, especially those that rely on passive radiative cooling. Outgassing of composites is characterized by three quantities based on ASTM E595: total mass loss (TML), collected volatile condensable material (CVCM), and water vapor regained (WVR). CVCM is a measure of the potential for outgassed products to form surface deposits, while TML is a measure of the potential for the formation of molecular clouds. Typical current design requirements are 1.0% TML and 0.1% CVCM, but these are expected to become more stringent for future spacecraft. Outgassing data on specic material systems is available in several databases. Of particular importance is the data indicating that polycyanate and thermoplastic matrix materials characteristically produce less outgassing products than conventional epoxy matrix materials. Thermal CycleInduced Microcracking. Thermal cyclinginduced microcracking is due to the difference in the CTE of each individual ply parallel to and transverse to the ber direction. The CTE parallel to the bers is dominated by ber properties and can be slightly negative. The transverse CTE is controlled by the matrix properties and is generally about half of the value for the CTE of the matrix alone. Consequently, internal stresses are induced due to differential thermal expansion for any composite lay-ups that have plies oriented at different angles. During repeated thermal cycles cracks form and grow parallel to the ber direction of each ply. Microcracking of composites can cause strain hysterisis and signicant changes in the overall CTE, both of which present dimensional stability problems. However, microcracking is sometimes employed to achieve a desired CTE. For example, the struts on the metering truss of the Hubble space telescope were deliberately subjected to microcracking to tune them to the desired CTE.10 New toughened epoxies and polycyanate matrix systems have greatly reduced the severity of microcracking, but designers should remain aware of the potential for thermal cyclinginduced microcracking.
2.2 Typical Structures

Several standard structural forms are used for composite spacecraft structures: solid laminates, sandwich laminates, strut structures, and isogrid structures. Each form has benets and restrictions ranging from cost to performance. This section will discuss these forms and their applications.
Solid Laminate Construction

Solid composite laminates are the simplest of the forms used in composite structures. Several plies of a selected composite material are stacked to create a nal laminate of the desired thickness. The laminate may be treated as a continuous, homogenous material once its properties are determined. As such, structural

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analysis is simplied and uncertainties are reduced. Solid laminates are best suited to applications where the primary loading is in-plane tension or shear. Examples include primary structural members that must withstand the axial launch and maneuvering loads, and torsion tubes such as those used to mount deployable solar cell arrays and antennas.
Sandwich Structures

In applications where bending stiffness and strength are critical, sandwich structures are often used because they provide high bending strength and stiffness with low mass. Sandwich structures consist of two (or more) facesheets separated by a low-density core (Fig. 4). This conguration provides substantially greater bending strength and stiffness with little mass increase when compared to the facesheets without cores. Sandwich panels with aluminum facesheets have been used in a wide variety of aerospace applications, providing much higher bending stiffness and strength values. The desirable properties of advanced composites such as low coefcients of thermal expansion and directionality also apply to sandwich structures with composite facesheets. The most commonly used core material for space applications is aluminum honeycomb, although other core materials such as aramid honeycomb and syntactic foam are sometimes used. Typical honeycomb cores for space applications range from 12.7 to 50.8 mm in thickness, and cell size ranges from 3.18 to 12.7 mm. Important properties that affect the selection of various types of sandwich structures are core venting, core CTE, and the need for discrete hardpoints that are used to attach the panel to the structure and to mount instruments to the panel. Venting. A very important consideration that must not be overlooked is that the core must allow venting of gases within the core. If this is not done, high pressure inside the core can lead to facesheet debonding or core explosion in the space vacuum environment. The cell walls in aluminum honeycomb are usually perforated for venting requirements. CTE. Thermal expansion characteristics of the core must also be considered for successful sandwich structure utilization. The in-plane coefcient of thermal expansion (CTE) value is usually provided by the manufacturer and is assumed

Fig. 4 Sandwich structure construction. (Figure reprinted with permission of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Fundamentals of Composites Manufacturing: Materials, Methods, and Applications, Copyright, 1989.)

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to be constant for all in-plane directions. However, recent experience has shown that the CTE of aluminum honeycomb core may be different in the ribbon and ll directions, therefore caution must be used when designing dimensionally stable sandwich structures. Additionally, the through-the-thickness CTE is dictated by the material that the honeycomb is composed of (e.g., aluminum) so careful attention must be given to the design of end close-outs and ttings to ensure compatibility with the sandwich structure. Hardpoints. Because the facesheets in sandwich structures are very thin, discrete hardpoints must be integrated into the sandwich panel to provide locations for mechanical fasteners. The hardpoints prevent fastener pullout and localized panel crushing by distributing the mechanical loads over a larger area of the panel. These hardpoints are most often individual metal inserts bonded to the sandwich panel. While the need for hardpoints introduces additional complexity and expense, careful planning for fastener locations and fastener quantities will minimize the increased fabrication cost.
Truss Structures

Truss structures composed of many individual struts are common in spacecraft to provide stiff, large structures with low mass. Advanced composites are ideally suited for strut applications because they carry predominantly uniaxial loads. This allows the directional properties of ber-reinforced composites to be exploited, producing a very efcient structure. The advantages of composite use for mass reduction are augmented by the thermal stability inherent in composite truss structures, which can be ensured by the specication of a wide range of values for the coefcient of thermal expansion. A typical composite strut is shown in Fig. 5. Aluminum or titanium end ttings are generally bonded to the composite strut to provide attachment points.

Cylindrical Cross Section

Tapered ends for truss connections

Fig. 5 Typical composite truss member.

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Isogrid Structures

Isogrid construction is a new alternative method of fabricating structures that have high bending strength and stiffness at low mass. Originally developed for compression-loaded metallic panel designs, the isogrid concept incorporates a unique triangular pattern of stiffener elements instead of a core structure to achieve required stiffness.11 Several new programs have been initiated to fabricate advanced composite materials structures using the isogrid concept. An isogrid stiffened panel is composed of three sections, each constructed from the same base composite material. The three sections are the primary facesheet, the web, and the ange stiffeners, as shown in Fig. 6. Because isogrid stiffened panels have only one complete facesheet, more radiating area is exposed than in conventional sandwich panels. Consequently, isogrid stiffened structures offer improved heat dissipation over that of honeycomb core structures. The additional radiating area is especially advantageous in the design of solar arrays where the efciency of the array is strongly dependent on operating temperatures. Isogrid construction has the potential to reduce the cost of complex structures through reduced tooling and assembly costs.
Joints

The design of composite structures must include joining considerations. Laminated composites tend to have poor bearing strength and toughness when compared to metals. Consequently, bonded joints are strongly preferred over the use of discrete mechanical fasteners for joining composite materials. In contrast to joints using discrete mechanical fasteners, bonded joints provide a distributed load transfer that greatly reduces stress concentrations. The performance of bonded or bolted composite material joints for a variety of loadings and geometries has been evaluated in many studies.12 Results indicate that adhesively bonded joints offer superior strength and reliability when compared to joints that use mechanical fasteners such as bolts and rivets.

Fig. 6 Isogrid stiffened panel (reprinted from Ref. 11).

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2.3

Manufacturing

No discussion of the application of composite materials is complete without an overview of the wide range of manufacturing methods available. In fact, the manufacturing process is integral to the effective and cost-efcient use of composites and must be considered throughout the entire design process. The manufacturing method that is best suited to the application may be dictated by a combination of total cost constraints, production time, production quantity, and the physical properties required by the designer. It is impossible to provide a concise description of all possible manufacturing methods here. A comprehensive text such as Fundamentals of Composites Manufacturing provides specics on the various composite manufacturing methods/processes.13 Some of the unique aspects of composite structure manufacturing will be discussed here, with a primary focus on cost reduction. Reduction in component cost and complexity are always welcome attributes for spacecraft. Because composites are built up and formed by material addition instead of material removal, consolidation of many individual components into one entity can be achieved. This consolidation reduces the part count (and therefore cost) and results in more compact and efcient structures. Reduction of the size and mass of entire systems has become more important as spacecraft become smaller. Part consolidation is a key technology to achieving this goal. New communication and observation systems that use constellations of multiple small satellites are being designed. Spacecraft design for these programs represents a departure from the traditional design philosophy because many similar or identical satellites must be produced in a costly manner. The use of advanced composite structures instead of metals may potentially reduce recurring manufacturing costs signicantly. Most metal parts for spacecraft are produced by the removal of material from a larger entity to achieve the nished form. This machining constitutes the majority of the cost in the production of metal parts. The use of composite components on the other hand can drastically reduce recurring machining cost and material waste because a single reusable mold can be used to produce many near-net shape parts. An assortment of cost reducing automated or computer-assisted processes are available that may minimize labor expenses. Commonly used manufacturing processes include lament winding, automated tow placement, automated ply cutting, laser-projected lay-up templates (guides), pultrusion, matched die molding, and resin transfer molding. Not all processes work equally well for every structure; instead one or two processes are usually far superior for a particular structural conguration.
Multifunctional Structures

Mechanical parts, sensors, wiring, and electronic components can be combined in single composite structures to form integrated, or multifunctional, structures. Because composite materials are manufactured or built up from many thin individual plies, individual component elements may be embedded within the layers as they are applied (referred to as packaging). The resulting multicomponent integration is a necessary design element in the success of future small satellite missions. The embedding of passive or active electronic components provides

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new opportunities and venues for integrated component diagnostics, sensing, and structural health monitoring. Multifunctional structures are broadly dened as structures that support additional tasks that may be unrelated to basic mechanical load carrying.14 Examples of functions included in this denition are damping enhancement elements, passive electronics and circuits, sensors, actuators, and active electronics. Multifunctional structures may include different levels of complexity that range from simple passive thermal management or electromagnetic waveguides to advanced fully integrated adaptive structures containing sensors, actuators, and active electronics. Research groups have commonly adapted a stepping stone approach toward the achievement of the ultimate goal of highly integrated structures with minimum mass and volume. The vast body of work in this area will not be covered here, but a brief overview of some of the more mature technologies is provided below. Embedded-Sensor Technology. Substantial work has been done to develop techniques for embedding sensors in composite structures and in testing their response. Much of this research has been focused on the embedding of various types of strain sensors in composite structures to create integral, real-time distributed sensing of local strains. The data provided by these sensors is useful for the determination of the status of deployable structures, in the design of the shape or form of spacecraft components, in the measurement of vibration levels, and for damage detection. Starting in 1994, a program of research began into remotely queried embedded microsensors (RQEM) sponsored by the Naval Research Laboratory. RQEM developed a working prototype of the sensor and solved many of the difcult research issues. In 1997 a follow-up program, Applied Research in RemotelyQueried Embedded Microsensors (ARRQEM), rened the system concept (Fig. 7) and solved many of the difcult engineering issues. The primary target materials for the installation of remotely queried sensors were the various aerospace composites, including glass and carbon-ber reinforced thermoset and thermoplastic resins. It is undesirable to use wired sen-

Fig. 7 ARRQEM sensor package.