About Us
History
Pepin Associates, Inc. has been developing aligned discontinuous materials for composite reinforcement for over two decades.
In the 90's DOE SBIR programs began to evaluate the concept for fabrication of thermoplastic composites in automotive applications. With DARPA, Air Force and Navy SBIR funding beginning in 2001 Pepin Associates, Inc. developed an aligned discontinuous fabric for use with thermoset resins for aerospace applications.
This fabric has the registered trademark DiscoTex®. In this program Pepin Associates, Inc. fabricated a carbon/epoxy keel designed by Boeing St. Louis. Due to its complex shape this large part would have been very difficult to fabricate with currently available continuous fiber materials.
In 2005 Pepin Associates, Inc. was awarded a Defense Acquisition Challenge Program to qualify this fabric to a Boeing Material Specification. This program was completed in December 2008. In 2008 Pepin Associates, Inc. was awarded an Office of Naval Research Program to develop versions of the DiscoTex® material for Navy platforms. This program focused only on epoxy (thermoset) matrices.
Currently Pepin Associates Inc. is completely a SBIR contract for ultra-high temperature (UHT) carbon-matrix composites (CMC) for use in aeroshells. while exploring commercialization options for the applications of DiscoTex® in various industries.
Personnel
John Pepin, President
Rebecca Wentworth, Project Engineer
Gregg Collins, Technician
Richard DeFries, Technician
Caleb Babiarz, Engineering Intern