SBIR-STTR Award

Presently, the Army experiences numerous problems with existing manufacturing processes for the metal encapsulation of ceramic tiles within the current inventory of armor solutions. REL, Inc. will address the specific problems of directly casting the encapsulated ceramic structure to net/near net shape and the high cost of ceramic tile finishing practices currently required for existing ceramic panel designs through the identification and implementation of a new manufacturing process. This process will allow the ceramic tiles to remain unfinished before encapsulation, thereby eliminating the need for close tolerances and greatly reducing manufacturing costs while increasing the quality and consistency of the end product. Ultimately, this will result in the availability of more systems through the establishment of a new industry standard that will provide the required legacy and future platform for an innovative integrate and materials process for the survivability of the Warfighter.

Keywords:
Metal Encapsulation Of Unfinished Ceramic Tiles, Squeeze Casting, Multi-Layer Encapsulation,

REL has demonstrated that Squeeze Casting a is viable process for encapsulation of ceramic tiles for Warfighter protection systems. The SBIR Phase 1 has demonstrated that squeeze cast encapsulation can offer the following process attributes: a. Use of low tolerance ‘as-pressed’ tiles, b. Control of gap sizes between tiles in cast panels, c. Ability to use multiple matrix light metal alloys for the encapsulation of multiple tiles, d. Scaleable to large panel sizes, as well as, e. Cost Effective processing solution. The use of unfinished ‘as-pressed’ tiles eliminates an expensive finish machining process for SiC tiles. The tile gap control in multiple matrix alloys can be controlled by the REL designed ‘pick and place’ die transfer tool. Specific matrix alloys chosen for this work are commercially pure Al and 5083. The 2 foot square nominal panel size for phase one is capable to be expanded to the larger 3 foot square nominal panel size for SBIR Phase 2 in the current press located at REL. The Squeeze Casting process of the encapsulation panels can be performed with processing times that are similar to die cast cycle times. More optimization should be performed to determine optimal Manufacturing cell design.

Keywords:
Squeeze Casting, Encapsulation, Unfiniished Sic Tiles, Metal Matrix Composite, Selective Reinforcement, Warfighter Protection, Vehicle Protection