Cold-Spray Composite Armor with Meta-Stable Particulates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing materials and methods fail to provide intermixed and graded armors containing conventional armor ceramics and high-hardness particulates, as these materials are often unstable at high temperatures and undergo unfavorable chemical reactions.
Innovation Solution
The use of cold-spray techniques to form composite materials with a substrate layer and a particulate layer comprising non-deforming high-hardness particles embedded in a matrix of malleable particles, allowing for the incorporation of meta-stable high-hardness particulates like stishovite and diamond, which cannot be processed at high temperatures, and enabling the creation of intermixed and graded armor compositions with tailored properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If high-temperature sintering is used to process ceramics, then conventional armor ceramics can be formed with high hardness, but meta-stable high-hardness particulates (e.g., stishovite, diamond) undergo unfavorable chemical reactions or transformation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the temperature parameter from high-temperature sintering to low-temperature cold-spray processing. This parameter change allows meta-stable high-hardness particulates like stishovite and diamond to be incorporated without undergoing unfavorable chemical reactions or phase transformations, while still achieving dense composite formation through the kinetic energy of the sprayed particles
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the thermal processing system (high-temperature sintering) with a mechanical processing system (cold-spray deposition). The mechanical kinetic energy of the sprayed particles provides the necessary densification and bonding without requiring high temperatures that would destabilize meta-stable particulates
2Strength
If conventional ceramic processing methods are used, then high-hardness ceramics can be produced, but intermixed and graded armors containing both conventional ceramics and high-hardness particulates cannot be formed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses cold-spray processing to create composite materials that combine conventional armor ceramics (e.g., alumina, silicon carbide) with meta-stable high-hardness particulates (e.g., stishovite, diamond) in intermixed and graded configurations. The low-temperature process allows both material types to coexist without adverse reactions, achieving compositional flexibility and enhanced ballistic performance
Solution Approach 2:
The invention enables local variation in composition by forming graded armors where the ratio of conventional ceramics to high-hardness particulates can be tailored in different regions. This allows optimization of specific properties (hardness, toughness, erosion resistance) in different zones of the armor component
3Adaptability or versatility
If high-temperature processing is avoided to preserve meta-stable particulates, then compositional flexibility is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the high-temperature step from the ceramic processing sequence and replaces it with cold-spray deposition. This separation allows conventional ceramics to be formed through their usual high-temperature sintering while meta-stable particulates are introduced separately at low temperatures, simplifying the overall process by eliminating the need for complex low-temperature sintering equipment
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for the production of armor materials with enhanced penetrator erosion capacity and tailored electrical and heat conduction properties, expanding the range of possible armor designs and materials, while stabilizing meta-stable high-hardness particulates within a matrix, thereby improving the effectiveness of traditional armor systems.
Implementation Method 1
a particulate layer comprising non-deforming ceramic or high-hardness particles, and combinations thereof, embedded in a matrix of malleable particles formed by a cold-spray process
Implementation Method 2
a particulate layer comprising non-deforming particles selected from the group consisting of ceramic particles and high-hardness particles, and combinations thereof, embedded in a matrix formed by cold-sprayed malleable particles
Data Source
AI summary
Composite materials incorporating high-hardness particulates are provided. Methods for forming composite materials incorporating meta-stable, high-hardness particulates using cold-spray techniques are also provided. The composite materials and methods of the invention beneficially permit the formation of intermixed and graded armors. The composite materials and methods also permit the production of armor compositions with tailored properties.