EXPLOSIVE POWDER COMPACTION OF TORPEDO HULLS

TORPEDO SHELLS ARE MACHINED FROM ALUMINUM TUBES USING EXPENSIVE MACHINING METHODS. BY USING EXPLOSIVE LOADS TO CONSOLIDATE ALUMINUM POWDERS, TUBES COULD BE MANUFACTURED AT NEAR NET SHAPE TO REDUCE MACHINING COSTS. ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS THAT THE ALUMINUM POWDER CAN EASILY BE REINFORCED WITH MATERIAL SUCH AS SILICON CARBIDE CREATING A COMPOSITE WHICH HAS A HIGHER STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO THAN WROUGHT AND CAST ALUMINUM. A SUCCESSFUL PHASE I OF THIS PROGRAM WOULD DEVELOP THE NECESSARY PROCESSING PARAMETERS TO MANUFACTURE ALUMINUM TUBES REINFORCED WITH SILICON CARBIDE. THESE PARAMETERS COULD THEN BE USED DURING PHASE II TO BUILD SOME PROTOTYPE TORPEDO SHELLS.