APEX

ADVANCED POLYMERS ENGINEERED

FOR THE EXTREME

Lockheed Martin Corporation

6801 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, MD 20817
www.lockheedmartin.com/nano

Copyright 2013 Lockheed Martin Corporation

All rights reserved

CET201304007
GS9509

Combining high-performance with

the low cost, ease, and adaptability of
thermoplastics, the Lockheed Martin
APEX platform of thermoplastic
composites is a versatile materials
and manufacturing platform
designed to meet the exacting
demands of defense, aerospace,
automotive, industrial and commercial
applications.
THE APEX PLATFORM
The APEX platform embraces a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to product development that
considers materials design and manufacturing in parallel
and relies on Lockheed Martins extensive capabilities
in sophisticated engineering, modeling and simulation,
testing and analysis, and systems validation. It takes
supply chain-ready building blocks to create customized,
manufacturable formulations that are fine-tuned to
balance desired performance. The result is a faster,
less costly, and smarter way to build high-performance
components for land, air, sea, and space platforms.
The APEX platform is not limited to a single polymer,
composite formulation, or manufacturing process.

Instead, it utilizes a broad range of materials that

include:
Discontinuous reinforced molding compounds,
such as the first aerospace-qualified product, the
APEXn-1 multi-scale reinforced thermoplastic
nanocomposite that is already validated for use in
Department of Defense applications;
Continuous woven and unidirectional reinforced
composites; and
Hybrid materials that utilize specialized resin and
additive blends as well as multiple material systems
such as polymer-metal hybrids to meet unique
performance characteristics.
The choice of manufacturing process occurs in
parallel with material selection. APEX composites are
compatible with the full palette of highly automated,
variable rate, energy-efficient, and low-cost
thermoplastics manufacturing technologies. Examples
include:

Injection molding,
Compression molding,
Profile and sheet extrusion,
Thermoforming,
Automated fiber placement,
Filament winding,
Direct manufacturing, also known as 3D printing.

Secondary operations for joining and assembly to create

multi-component structures and fully integrated systems
is possible using a wide range of thermoplastic joining
technologies such as laser, ultrasonic, induction, and
friction welding; adhesive and fusion bonding, molded-in
fasteners, friction riveting, and snap-fit construction.
APEX composites are also suitable for post-process
decorating and finishing, machining and drilling, painting,
coating, and metallization.
Lockheed Martins Integrated Computational Materials
Engineering (ICME) group in Cherry Hill, NJ also plays an
integral role in the choice of materials and manufacturing
processes to meet specific design and performance
characteristics. Through an innovative combination of
multi-scale physics models and informatics, the ICME
team reduces the time, cost, and risk of meeting multiple
objectives of decreased weight, increased strength and
stiffness, optimal thermal and electrical performance,
chemical and environmental resistance, and durability.
VALUE
A major advantage of working with APEX composites is
the low cost and automated nature of thermoplastics
manufacturing. For example, by switching from a handlaid thermoset composite to the APEXn-1 composite
molding compound, Lockheed Martin was able to reduce
the cost of making the F-35 Lightning II wingtip fairing
while improving reproducibility.
Other benefits of the APEX platform include:
Recyclability, reducing waste and environmental
footprint;
Broad applicability for each APEX material across
product and manufacturing platforms, reducing the
cost of qualification, risk of new material formulation,
and time for product development;
In-house expertise and knowledge base speeds
materials and manufacturing selection;
Reliance on established supply chains for
commercial-scale APEX production.

APEXn-1 AND BEYOND

The first aerospace qualified member of the APEX
family, APEXn-1, was developed as a low-cost alternative
for use in non-structural applications intended for
land, air, sea, and space platforms. This chemical- and
corrosion-resistant, carbon nanofiber-reinforced
thermoplastic composite has so far met stringent
Department of Defense qualification standards for use
in non-structural components. The APEXn-1 composite
has also passed flame, smoke, and toxicity testing as well
as secondary process testing demonstrating that this
material is both safe and environmentally sustainable.
Researchers at Lockheed Martin are now developing
next generation APEX materials and processes.
The companys near-term emphasis is on creating
APEX composites for use with hybrid manufacturing
technologies now being deployed in the automotive
industry. The goal is to achieve the highest level of
optimization for design, materials, and manufacturing
through hybridization combining multiple materials
and manufacturing methods in a single, fully automated
manufacturing process to produce structural composite
parts with all of the performance features of assembled,
multi-component structures.