Cold Spray Fragmentation Warheads with High-Density Reactive Materials
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Solution Overview
Problem
Despite advancements in missile technology, fragmentation warhead casings are often produced using legacy materials like steel, limiting their efficacy due to the inability to utilize advanced manufacturing methods and materials that could enhance their performance.
Innovation Solution
The use of cold spray technology to deposit high-density metal and ceramic materials onto preforms/mandrels with designed fragmentation features, enabling the creation of high-density, reactive fragmentation warheads with optimized geometries and increased secondary incendiary effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If legacy materials like steel are used for fragmentation warhead casings, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but warhead efficacy and penetration capability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material density parameter by transitioning from steel to high-density materials such as tungsten, tantalum, or depleted uranium. This parameter change increases fragment penetration capability and warhead efficacy while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through cold spray processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials combining high-density metals with ceramic components in cold spray deposits. These composites provide enhanced mechanical properties, increased density, and improved fragmentation performance compared to traditional steel casings
2Shape
If traditional machining methods are used for warhead fabrication, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but geometric complexity and optimization are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical machining processes with cold spray additive manufacturing. This substitution enables the direct fabrication of complex three-dimensional geometries with internal channels, varying wall thicknesses, and optimized fragmentation features that are impossible to achieve through conventional machining
Solution Approach 2:
The cold spray process allows for local quality variations in the warhead structure, including non-uniform wall thickness, internal reinforcement zones, and geometric features optimized for specific fragmentation patterns. These local variations enhance overall warhead efficacy while maintaining manufacturing feasibility
3Weight of moving object
If high-density materials are used for warhead casings, then interceptor efficacy and penetration are improved, but material selection and processing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material state parameter by using cold spray deposition to process high-density materials that would otherwise be difficult to manufacture. The cold spray process enables formable deposition of materials like tungsten and tantalum without requiring them to be in molten or powder states, thereby improving processing ease
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates composite structures combining high-density metals with ductile metal coatings or ceramic components. These composites maintain the high density benefits for penetration while the ductile coatings improve formability and manufacturability during the cold spray process
4Productivity
If advanced manufacturing methods like additive manufacturing are used, then geometric optimization is improved, but manufacturing complexity and equipment requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex multi-step additive manufacturing processes with cold spray technology. This substitution simplifies the manufacturing system by eliminating the need for melting, layer-by-layer deposition, or complex support structures, while still achieving geometric optimization through direct form deposition
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 approach results in warheads with improved interceptor efficacy, increased fragment penetration, and enhanced kill probability due to higher density materials and pyrophoric/reactive components, allowing for greater explosive mass and longer-range effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
cold spray technology to deposit high-density metal and ceramic materials onto preforms/mandrels
Implementation Method 2
The mixture is a mechanical mixture with substantially no chemical interaction before spraying
Implementation Method 3
enhanced secondary incendiary effects
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are methods of making fragmentation casings for bombs and warheads. Particularly, cold spray methods are used. A layer or layers of metal, metal alloy, and optional other materials are deposited by cold spray application of cold spray materials to preform/mandrel, having patterned structures to define fragmentation points (e.g., stress concentrators) in a fragmentation casing formed on the preform/mandrel via cold spray. In addition to such cold spray processes for forming a fragmentation casing, this disclosure relates to the preform/mandrels used as well as the resultant fragmentation casing formed via cold spray.