Shape Memory Alloy Reinforced Aluminum Foam composites for Ballistic Protection

The objective of this SBIR program is to develop a methodology for designing shape memory alloy (SMA) reinforced aluminum foam composite armor for the army applications in lightweight ballistic protection. Achieving this armor will improve the ballistic properties with the use of emerging smart materials, reduce the vulnerability of the vehicle and crew for ballistic impact and will result in a reduced structure weight compared to the existing ceramic composite armor materials. Thre are three key areas of investigation: (1)Identifying the most promising discontinuous SMA fiber, the SiC particulate reinforcements and aluminum alloys, (2)Investigation of the feasibility of fabrication of the proposed SMA/SiC reinforced aluminum foam composites and investigation the various processing techniques to find a low cost manufacturing process for incorporating the SMA into the aluminum foam, and (3) Evaluation of mechanical properties and relationship between material composition/processing condition and resulting characteristics. Demonstrate the feasibility to produce the proposed composite having better mechanical properties including impact toughness.