Pyrotechnic Hybridized Layouts via Advanced Manufacturing of Energetics

Military aircraft uses decoy flares to counter incoming threat missiles. Improvement in sensors and guiding mechanisms of missiles requires countermeasures to become more sophisticated to mislead them. One approach to enhance flare performance is through the introduction of multiple spectral characteristics in one device. Such functionally graded flare grains would have the ability to generate specific electromagnetic signatures in time and space. Lynntech proposes to use Additive Manufacturing (commonly known as 3D printing) for fabrication of hybridized flare grains. Our approach involves modification of currently used pyrotechnic compositions to allow their processing via additive manufacturing as well as the design of smart nozzle geometries to allow fabrication of core-shell flare grains. The developed material/printer combination will allow for fabrication of selectively tuned spectral signatures and inside-out burning characteristics that are not attainable by traditional pyrotechnic pellet production methods such as melt cast, melt cure, and powder pressing. We will evaluate the performance of the fabricated flare grains as a function of composition and energetic payload. The developed technology will allow for precise control of material layering and electromagnetic signature as a function of time. Ultimately, Lynntechs deposition method formulation will result in transformational changes in the performance of decoy flares.