Low Cost Manufacturing of the Ballistic Resistant Transparent Spinel Windows

This Phase I SBIR program will develop the ballistic resistant transparent spinel windows for armored vehicles. The ballistic resistant transparent spinel (magnesium aluminate spinel, MgAl2O4) windows should have high mechanical properties (strength and hardness) and the optical quality and environmental resistance of the windows should equal to or better than the requirements described in ATDP 2352P specification. The ballistic resistant transparent spinel windows also should provide better ballistic resistance in comparison to current ballistic glass, as well as significantly reducing the weight of the armored vehicle by using thinner windows than the current ballistic glass. The most important point of this proposal is to minimize the production cost of the windows to 3 times or less the cost of manufacturing current ballistic glass. This Phase I program will focus to low the over all manufacturing cost of the ballistic resistant transparent spinel windows through powder synthesis, powder processing, and sintering process.