ACTIVATED METAL DECOY FOR LOW IR SIGNATURE AIRCRAFT

ACTIVATED STEEL FOIL FABRICATED INTO ELEMENTS TO BE PACKAGED AS EXPENDABLE DECOYS HAS SHOWN GOOD PERFORMANCE IN LOW IR SIGNATURE APPLICATIONS. THE PRESENT BATCH PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR THESE FOILS ENTAILS, IN PART, TWENTY HOURS OF FURNACE TREATMENT. A COMBINATION OF NINE SEPARATE OPERATIONS, LOW PRODUCTION RATES AND HIGH LABOR COSTS YIELDS A UNIT MANUFACTURING COST OF MORE THAN $250.00. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURING ACTIVATED METAL BY A TIME, ELIMINATE SUCH HANDLING LABOR AND INCREASE THE PRODUCTION RATE TO MEET THE 5000 UNIT/MONTH PROGRAM REQUIREMENT AT A UNIT COST OF APPROXIMATELY $50. THE NEW TECHNIQUE INVOLVES THE APPLICATION OF A SLURRY COAT OF A DISPERSION OF METAL PRATICLES ON A CLEAN FOIL SURFACE FOLLOWED BY HEATING. THIS PROMOTES A HIGH TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS REACTION (SHS) BETWEEN THE METAL PARTICLES, AND FORMS, WITHIN TEN (10) SECONDS, AN INSITU INTERMETALLIC COATING ON THE STEEL SURFACE. SUBSEQUENT SELECTIVE LEACHING PROVIDES THE CHARACTERISTICS SELF-IGNITING ACTIVATEDMETAL SURFACE. INDIVIDUAL STRIPS OF 1-MIL STEEL FOIL HAVE ALREADY BEEN PROCESSED BY THIS TECHNIQUE. ELEMENTS CUT FROM THIS STRIP DISPLAYED IR OUTPUTS COMPARABLE TO ELEMENTS PRODUCED BY THE OLD PROCEDURE.