PROCESSING APPLIED TO THE PRODUCTION OF COMPOSITE AMMUNITION CONTAINERS

COMPOSITE MATERIALS OFFER ADVANTAGES OF LOWER WEIGHT, LOWER COST, GREATER ENVIRONMENTAL RESISTANCE, AND GREATER DESIGN FLEXIBILITY OVER METAL OR FIBER BASED MATERIALS. AS A RESULT, THEY ARE BECOMING MORE READILY ACCEPTED AS SUBSTITUTES FOR CONVENTIONAL AMMUNITION PACKAGING MATERIALS. A NUMBER OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS ARE CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS, UNDER U.S. ARMY SPONSORSHIP, TO DEVELOP AMMUNITION CONTAINER DESIGNS WITH COMPOSITE MATERIALS. IN ORDER TO INTRODUCE THESE SUBSTITUTE DESIGNS EXPEDITIOUSLY, CONVENTIONAL FABRICATION PROCEDURES, SUCH AS INJECTION AND COMPRESSION MOLDING USING RELATIVELY LOW PERFORMANCE MATERIALS ARE BEING CONSIDERED AS LEADING CANDIDATE APPROACHES. HOWEVER, MORE ADVANCED, BUT WELL CHARACTERIZED, PROCESSES AND MATERIALS HAVE PROMISE OF PROVIDING EVEN GREATER ADVANTAGES IN WEIGHT AND COST REDUCTION. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM IS DIRECTED TO DEVELOPING RESIN TRANSFER MOLDING AND REACTION INJECTION MOLDING PROCESSING FOR AMMUNITION CONTAINER FABRICATION. THE MORE ADVANCED PROCESSES, TOGETHER WITH A NUMBER OF APPROPRIATE MATERIAL FORMULATIONS, WILL BE EXAMINED RELATIVE TO DEVELOPING DATA ON THEIR ADVANTAGES RELEVANT TO CURRENT MORE CONVENTIONAL CONTAINER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.