HIGH-TEMPERATURE MATERIAL FABRICATION USING HIGH ENERGY ELECTRON BEAMS

THE USE OF HIGH ENERGY (1-5 MEV), HIGH POWER (250 KW-1 MW) ELECTRON BEAMS ALLOWS THE LOW COST FABRICATION OF UNIQUE HIGH TEMPERATURE MATERIALS WHICH ARE NOT ECONOMICALLY MANUFACTURED USING CONVENTIONAL FABRICATION METHODS. MATERIALS WHICH CAN BE FABRICATED USING THIS PROCESS INCLUDE NICKEL-BASED SUPER-ALLOYS WITH GRADED THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND CERAMIC-REINFORCED TIXA1 AND NIXA1 METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES. THE ELECTRON BEAM FABRICATION PROCESS MELTS AND CONSOLIDATES PURE OR ALLOY POWDERS, WOVEN OR PARTICULATE REINFORCEMENT MATERIAL, AND METAL FOILS TO PRODUCE NET SHAPE STRUCTURES. RESEARCHERS DEVELOPED A NEW GENERATION OF PULSED LINEAR INDUCTION ACCELERATORS (LIA) WHICH ALLOW RELIABLE, COST EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF HIGH AVERAGE POWER ELECTRON BEAMS WITH THE NECESSARY PARAMETERS FOR HIGH ENERGY ELECTRON BEAM (HEEB) MATERIAL FABRICATION. UNIQUE FEATURES OF THESE ACCELERATORS INCLUDE HIGH REPETITION RATE (>5000 PPS) ALL-SOLID-STATE PULSED POWER DRIVERS WHICH MAKE THESE ACCELERATORS SCALABLE TO MEGAWATT POWER LEVELS AT A CAPITAL COST FOR THE ACCELERATOR OF APPROXIMATELY $2/WATT. A NOVEL METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITE SYSTEM USING THE PROPOSED HEEB POWDER-METALLURGICAL PROCESS WILL BE FABRICATED.