LOW COST PROCESS FOR FABRICATING AERODYNAMIC CERAMIC/GLASS COMPOSITE IR DOMES

Missile seekers for precision guided munitions are key elements of modern defense systems. Seekers using laser guidance or imaging require IR- transparent protective domes. Depending on the application, these domes may plastic, glass, ceramic, polycrystal, or single crystal. Plastic and glass are relatively inexpensive and easily formed into non-spherical shapes. They are, however relatively soft and fragile. Ceramic and crystalline domes are much more rugged and suitable for higher temperatures, but using present technology are expensive and generally only spherical sections because of the difficulty and high cost of producing non-spherical, aerodynamic shapes. This effort will investigate new technology that combines the low cost and formability of strengthened glass with the ruggedness of ceramics. Chemically strengthened ceramic-glass composites can be produced at much lower cost and require little or no post processing. The costs of manufacturing and processing are comparable to that of glass, but the strength is improved through inclusion of ceramic particulates and ion-exchange in the glass phase. In this proposed effort, Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., in collaboration with researchers at Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will investigate the fabrication of glass ceramic domes in aerodynamic shapes using low cost processes using technologies developed by the DOD at NRL.