SBIR Phase I: Impact Bonding of Near Net-Shaped Ceramics to Metals Driven by Hydrogen Produced from Rapid Oxidation of Aluminum

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is that it removes the limitations of the previous methods used to join ceramics and metals and allows for new ceramic and metal bonded parts to infiltrate novel markets. Many new ceramic and metal bonded parts will be fabricated for the automotive, aerospace, chemical, defense, excavation and nuclear industries where they are in high demand due to the favorable properties of both materials being joined. One immediate opportunity for this type of bond is the impact chisel market. Long term opportunities from this project will result in superior products being created for the cutting tool market, armor, wear plates, thermal insulation, electrical components, and many others. This new capability will change many manufacturing processes and allow engineers more design possibilities. In addition to aiding the educational experience of university students involved in part testing, this project will ultimately result in the creation of U.S. manufacturing jobs for the mass production of ceramic and metal bonded parts. The intellectual merit of this project is to utilize and greatly expand upon the findings of impact bonding dissimilar metals from previous bodies of work to advance the scientific understanding of how ceramics impact bond to metals and how these bonded joints survive or potentially degrade when undergoing intense impact fatigue cycle testing. Although fatigue cycle testing on metal/ceramic interfaces has been documented when the joint is formed through other methods, the PI and team seek to perform fatigue cycle testing when metal/ceramic interfaces are optimized for strength and durability by the use of near net-shaped impact bonding. Previous methods of attaching ceramics to metals have been limited to brazing and adhesives, each of which is limited by temperature and strength. Other mechanical methods of joining ceramics and metals will simply not hold up during impact fatigue cycling due to the different compression properties of the joined materials. This project aims to produce pioneering publications on impact bonding ceramics and metals and will also further enhance the knowledge of high velocity impact bonding systems. Of particular interest is the impact bonding of ceramics/composites such as tungsten carbide to hardened steel because of immediate industrial applications.