THE AIR FORCE IS QUICKLY ENTERING THE ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY ARENA. THE AIR FORCE ADVANCED COMPOSITES PROGRAM OFFICE HAS, AS PART OF ITS MISSION, THE RESPONSIBILITY TO TRANSITION ADVANCED COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGY INTO THE AIR LOGISTICS SUPPORT STRUCTURE WHILE SOLVING SERVICE LIFE PROBLEMS OF AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS CURRENTLY IN THE INVENTORY. TO THIS END, THE SACRAMENTO AIR LOGISTICS CENTER (SM-ALC) HAS BEGUN PRODUCTION OF AN F-111 FORWARD VENTRAL STRAKE COMPOSED OF AN ARAMID/EPOXY AND GRAPHITE/EPOXY HYBRID SKIN OVER A NONMETALLIC CORE TO REPLACE THE CURRENT F-111 FIBERGLASS STRAKES. THE ENTIRE PROJECT WAS ACCOMPLISHED ORGANICALLY. THE DESIGN, DRAFTING AND MANUFACTURING DATA WERE DEVELOPED USING SINGLE- WORKSTATION CAD/CAM AND AN INTEGRATED DATABASE. NEW MANUFACTURING METHODOLOGIES DEMONSTRATED SHORTENED TOOL-UP TIMES AND IMPROVED PART QUALITY.
| Number of Pages : | 12 |
| Published : | 06/01/1990 |
