Advanced Friction Materials & Manufacturing Process

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate a unique method of producing hybrid metal ceramic composite friction materials.Friction materials are the replacement elements in braking,clutch and transmission systems.In this effort,Thor Technologies,Inc.will team with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)and an aircraft braking systems company to integrate two novel technologies into an innovative method of producing hybrid ceramic composite brakes.Preliminary studies with the Polymer Infiltration/Microwave Pyrolysis (PIMP)processing method indicate that it is capable of producing fiber-reinforced ceramic brakes with integral metal features.Such ceramic brakes will offer substantial competitive advantages over traditional friction materials,and should integrate seamlessly with existing systems.Thor Technologies will use the LANL Gyrotron Facility to produce hybrid ceramic composite frcition materials through the PIMP process.These will be evaluated through dynamometer tests conducted at the braking systems company.These tests will validate hybrid ceramic composites for friction applications,and will justify full-scale development of the PIMP manufacturing process.Thor Technologies,Inc.and the Principal Investigator are uniquely well positioned to meet the technical challenges of producing ceramic friction products and transitioning them to the market.