|
|
|
Composites Could Help U.S. Army Lighten Up
By George I. Seffers
Defense News Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Army scientists and engineers at the service's research laboratory in New Jersey say they are one or two years away from a breakthrough in composite materials that could substantially reduce the weight of armored vehicles.
Composites for armor combine metal-based materials with ceramics, improving strength and durability while decreasing weight and costs. While composites are not a new concept, the Army is spending millions of dollars each year to develop a host of next-generation materials as part of its effort to shift to a smaller, more mobile and more lethal fighting force.
Currently, composite materials place ceramics on top of metal, providing dramatically improved protection and weight reductions, according to Army sources.
"If we were to compare to today's technology, I think from a penetration point of view, we can improve 20 or 30 percent," said Paul Huang, a materials engineer at the Army Research Laboratory, Picatinney Arsenal, N.J. "But I think the real improvement...is not the penetration capability but the multihit capability. Right now, if you take our most advanced armor, the ceramic on the outside has to be engineered so that it can take more than one hit.
"A lot of the engineering effort goes into that, and there's a certain amount of parasitic weight associated with that," Huang added. "If we have a monolithic material with the ceramics embedded in the metal, the whole thing will behave like a metal, and a multihit capability will be native to the material."
For example, the Army recently signed a cooperative research and development agreement with MSE Technology Applications, Butte, Mont., to develop next-generation armor materials, known as metal matrix composites. The materials will have "significantly improved strength and durability and are significantly lighter," according to a press release issued Nov. 9 by Montana State University, which helped broker the deal.
The new materials may benefit the Army's Crusader program and the Future Combat Vehicle, both being studied for their role in the Army's vision.
The yet-to-be defined Future Combat Vehicle likely will be a family of 20-ton-or-less armored vehicles to perform a multitude of missions, including air defense, armor and reconnaissance. The Crusader is a self-propelled howitzer. Including the 55-ton resupply vehicle that accompanies the Crusader howitzer, the system weighs 110 tons, leading to speculation the system may not survive scrutiny under the Army's new vision.
U.S. Army leaders announced in October intentions to eliminate distinctions between heavy and light divisions, pitching the service toward a medium weight, likely all-wheeled force capable of performing any mission anywhere in the world on short notice.
One way of making Crusader lighter, some Army sources say, will be through the use of composite materials, both for armament and for more durable parts, such as brake discs, track shoes and clutch plates.
"We are looking at lightweight, multihit, durable materials to be used in a system primarily for the Army 2010 and beyond. Composite materials certainly is a potential option [for reducing Crusader's weight]," said Ernest Chin, team leader for armaments and armor at the Army Research Laboratory. Crusader already uses composite materials, especially in the turret, but Chin said it could benefit from using them more.
"The material we're looking at is ceramic reinforcement, which has the durability of metal, so it has the potential of being used in hull material," he said. "But also, it has the potential of giving ceramic ballistic protection that may go up into the turret."
The Army may see substantial results in the next year or two, according to Chin.
"In the metal matrix area, when we can demonstrate that we can get better performance, as well as multihit, we will have made some pretty revolutionary advances," he said. "I think it could happen in the next year or two. I'm looking forward to it."
The material being developed by the research laboratory and MSE Technology Applications is expected to undergo small arms ballistic testing in mid-2000 to prove it can withstand take several hits. Following the small arms test, the next phase will test the material against middle-caliber weaponry, Chin and Huang said.
Back to Top
|
|
