Low Cost Manufacturing of the Ballistic Resistant Transparent Spinel Windows

This Army Phase II SBIR Program main objective is to continue development of the lower cost MER's production of transparent spinel windows from the corresponding aluminum and magnesium oxides by in-situ conversion to magnesium aluminate (spinel) during hot pressing. The use of precursor oxides instead of commercial spinel powder reduced the powder and processing costs by about 64% in comparison to using commercial spinel powder. The in-situ oxide conversion spinel technology was demonstrated by making spinel windows up to a size of 4"x4"x0.55". During Phase II, the size of the windows will be scaled up to 800 square inches. MER will produce ready to install low cost transparent spinel solution for an array of military construction equipment and transport vehicles at a cost much less than 3x the equivalent cost of glass solution. To achieve the lower cost, special oxide powder precursors will be used. In addition, reduction in cost will be achieved by using a special refractive index matching coating which will eliminate the need for polishing of the final window components. The transparent solution will be fully characterized including ballistic performance, optical and mechanical properties.