Mentis Sciences Ceramic Composite Materials and Structures

This proposal presents a unique opportunity to develop low cost innovative manufacturing processes with the specific goal of complementing radome composite technology previously developed under SMDC Contract DASG60-98-C-0027, under which Mentis Sciences,Inc. (MSI) developed and evaluated composite radome materials for RF, specifically Ka band applications. The projected cost for the MSI's prototype PAC-3 radome is 1/10th of the total cost of the PAC-3 radome. The intent of this effort is to evaluatenovel higher temperature composite radome materials for X to W-band applications for future high performance missile platforms and offer the community a low cost alternative for these systems.These composites will be fabricated using commercially available, high purity ceramic powders and fillers, and will be produced using novel processing methods developed for the production and fabrication of parts with similar shapes to missile radomesdeveloped at MSI during the past year. The composite radomes will be produced using low cost ceramic slurry mixing techniques and a novel process to manufacture green radomes. The green body is nitrided freestanding in a furnace, eliminating the needfor expensive tooling and hot pressing. Multiple parts can be nitrided at the same time, reducing production cost. The proposed ceramic composite material is expected to exhibit excellent electrical and mechanical performance at a greatly reduced cost when compared to conventional silicon nitride radomes, and with equivalent or higher use temperature and rain erosionperformance.