Novel Processing for High Density Metal-Metal Composites

MATSYS proposes to develop novel processing techniques to enable the manufacture of metal-metal high-density composite materials. These materials will have high density to enable direct substitution of an energetic material for an inert material, high strength to survive severe shock loading conditions, and high energy content to increase the effectiveness of a weapon system. This effort will combine our unique expertise in instrumented-Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) with new approaches in composite design to develop a new generation of cost-efficient, high-density, high strength reactive composites. The proposed material system will use a blend of elemental powders which can yield a fully dense composite with a density of 7.8 g/cc or higher. The powders will be consolidated to full density to maximize the load-carrying capability of the composite, including strength and ductility. The consolidation will occur below the reaction initiation temperature to prevent any energy release during compaction. The existence of different powder materials will allow for tailoring of the mechanical and reactive properties of the material by varying the volume fraction of each element. Upon successful demonstration, this powder-based process can be easily applied to different powders and scaled for cost-effective, high volume production of powders and fully dense composites.