A NOVEL NEAR-NET SHAPE PROCESS TO FABRICATE HEAVY ALLOY LINERS

CURRENT PROCESSING SCHEMES OF COLD FORGING AND MACHINING TO FORM HEAVY METAL SHAPE CHARGE LINERS REQUIRE HOURS OF MACHINING, RESULTING IN ALMOST 90% OF THE MATERIAL WASTED, AND LEADS TO SIGNIFICANT COST PENALTIES. THE FEASIBILITY OF A NOVEL NEAR-NET SHAPE PROCESSING SCHEME WILL BE EVALUATED IN PHASE I. THIS PROPOSED APPROACH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE TO DENSITY LAW LEVELS, WHILE REDUCING FABRICATION COSTS BY 50%. THIS NEAR-NET SHAPE FORMING TECHNOLOGY HAS THE ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY TO FABRICATE MULTI-METAL LINERS AND OTHER LINER SHAPES. IN A TEAMING ARRANGEMENT WITH CRT, INC. IN PHASE I, 12 HEAVY METAL LINERS WILL BE FABRICATED USING THE CRT LINER DESIGN, WHICH WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FOR MICROSTRUCTURAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, AND COMPARED WITH THE CRT DATABASE ON CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART MATERIAL. IN PHASE II LARGER SIZE LINERS WILL BE PRODUCED, MECHANICALLY TESTED AND JET CHARACTERIZATION STUDIES WILL BE CARRIED OUT. IN PHASE III, A COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURING FACILITY WILL BE INSTALLED TO IMPLEMENT THE MANUFACTURING OF LINERS USING THIS DESIGN AND PROCESS. THE MAJOR BENEFIT OF THE PROPOSED APPROACH IF SUCCESSFUL, WOULD BE TO ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN A NUMBER OF PROCESSING STEPS, AND MACHINING TIME, LEADING TO MAJOR REDUCTION IN FABRICATION COSTS. SIGNIFICANT SPIN-OFF APPLICATIONS OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IN OTHER DOD APPLICATION AREAS SUCH AS TUNGSTEN AND MOLYBDENUM FOR GUN BARREL LINERS, AND IN COMMERCIAL AREAS SUCH AS FABRICATING NEAR-NET SHAPE FORGING DIES ARE ALSO LIKELY.