Lightweight and High-Strength Materials for Small and Medium Caliber Sabots Using Cost Effective Higher Pressure Powder Compaction Green Manufacturing

The major objective is to design and develop advanced lightweight and stronger sabot materials with adequate elongation to failure and cost effective manufacturing for medium and small caliber sabot component applications based on ARMYs SBIR requirements using advanced lightweight alloy composites using various controlled compositions using Aluminum Alloys 5000 series, 7000 series, and Aluminum/Magnesium as matrix materials (~Al has density of 2.7 g/cc and Magnesium has density of 1.74g/cc) with varying% of Magnesium to reduce the densities further and with adiitionals varying compositions of strengthening composite reinforcing materials such as Boron Carbides (density of 2.52 g/cc), Silicon (density of 2.329g/cc) /Silicon Oxide (density of 2.65 g/cc) (strengtheners). In Phase I, UTRON Kinetics will develop various metal matrix composite compositions to optimize using powders/whiskers of varying sizes (coarse, fine, and sub-micron/nanosize levels) including commercially available powders and cryomilled Aluminum alloy matrix powders and morphologies in the form of test coupons using UTRON Kineticss patented high pressure (upto 150 tsi) powder compaction GREEN manufacturing to characterize the materials behavior and properties including the microstructures/microchemistry and then fabricate the prototype sabot using representative medium sabot part design geometry as a proof of concept for ARMY. Proposed collaborator for transition is General Dynamics-OTS.