Manufacturing
In a competitive global marketplace, bringing superior products to market faster is essential for success. Ultracor Inc. highly experienced staff uses their materials knowledge along with Ultracor’s proprietary technology to provide Ultracor®, a most unique product.
Ultracor is expected to be used in spacecraft Antenna Reflectors, Optical Benches, Solar Arrays, and other lightly loaded structures which must be positioned with accuracy and stability in order to properly perform their intended purpose.
OPTIMUM CONSTRUCTION
Ultracor consists of a composite web formed into a honeycomb of virtually any cell configuration desired. At the present time, only hexagonal and square cell shapes have been produced. The web construction of Ultracor allows the use of any structural fiber, and for that fiber to be oriented in any desired direction, or directions. In Carbon Fiber Ultracor , fiber in a single direction may be applied at areal weights of as low as 12 grams per square meter.
MAXIMUM THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
The composite web of Ultracor is constructed of one or more layers of composite, each layer of which is separately produced, and may be of any material applied at any orientation. Thus, a honeycomb may have one layer of fibers oriented in the thickness direction consisting of high-conductivity pitch carbon fiber, producing a honeycomb which has an unusually high thermal conductivity through the thickness. In the same honeycomb, totally different fibers may be laid at different orientations, yielding excellent strength, stiffness and toughness in the same core which possesses a high thermal conductivity through the thickness.
ZERO COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION
The ability to orient extremely thin fiber plies in any direction in the web of Ultracor permits the use of negative-coefficient pitch-based carbon fiber materials, oriented to yield a net-zero coefficient of expansion in the “L”, “W”, and “T” directions of the core material.
CELL SIZE AND DENSITIES
Ultracor produced to date has been limited to cell sizes of 1/2 inch, 3/8 inch, 1/4 inch, and 3/16 inch. All cell sizes are easily heat formable.
Ultracor can be produced from almost any non-metallic web material and in densities ranging from 0.60 lb/ft3 to over 15.0 lb/ft3.