Polymer Nanocomposites Technology Designed for Extreme Environments
Koo and Associates International, Inc. (KAI) specializes in program and engineering management of polymer nanocomposites designed for extreme environments. Serving defense, aerospace, and government sponsors, it provides advanced research and development in ablation materials, flame-retardant polymers, and conductive polymers. The practice also maintains specialized test facilities to support thermal protection and materials characterization.
Dr. J.H. KooPrincipal
Work in this area is organized into supported delivery tasks.
Support includes Program.
Support includes engineering management covering requirements definition.
Support includes solution design.
Support includes execution of advanced materials programs.
Support includes Work in this area is organized into supported delivery tasks.
Research, characterization, and simulation of high-temperature ablation materials, rocket nozzle systems, and thermal protection systems.
Research on nozzle ablative materials and methods to reduce nozzle erosion in solid rocket motors.
Characterization and modeling of thermal protection system (TPS) materials for re-entry and hypersonic flight environments.
Development of multi-level sensor concepts to measure in-depth thermal response and recession rates.
Computational modeling and simulation of ablation recession and thermochemical response in extreme environments.
Development of fire-resistant and self-extinguishing polymeric systems, fabrics, and advanced manufacturing feedstocks.
Flame-retardant polymers formulated for selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), and related 3D printing processes.
Materials research on flame-resistant fabrics and electro-spun or melt-spun protective textiles.
Numerical modeling and optimization to determine polymer degradation kinetic parameters.
Research on electrically and thermally conductive polymer systems, carbon nanotube composites, and multi-functional resins.
Electrically and thermally conductive polymer formulations for SLS, FDM, and other additive processes.
Advanced composite research using highly aligned carbon nanotubes, graphite fiber reinforcements, and cyanate ester nanocomposites.
Specialized laboratory testing capabilities for evaluating flammability, thermal response, ablation, and polymer formulation.
Ablation testing utilizing an oxy-acetylene test bed capable of simulating environments with heat flux up to 1,000 W/cm2.
Testing services including UL 94, Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI), microscale combustion calorimetry, and cone calorimeter testing.
Material formulation using twin-screw extrusion and planetary mixing equipment.
Aerospace · Defense · Space · Government
Aerospace
Development and testing of multi-level ultra-fine thermocouple sensors capable of measuring recession rates and in-depth thermal profiles in low to high density ablative materials.
Space
Photogrammetry-based work supporting characterization of thermal protection system material response.
Aerospace
Research on flame-retardant polyamide formulations, ULTEM composites, and other high-performance polymers optimized for SLS, FDM, and Jet Fusion 3D printing.
Aerospace
Development and powder processing of electrically and thermally conductive polyamide and PEEK nanocomposites reinforced with carbon nanotubes or graphene nanoplatelets for laser sintering.