The optical and mechanical properties of polycrystalline MgAl2O4 spinel make this material of interest for transparent armor and for window and dome applications in the 0.3 mu m to 5.5 mu m range. Spinel was briefly produced commercially, and qualified for a range of dome and window applications in the early 1990's. Since 1993 however, there has been no commercial producer and consequently the interest in the application of spinel has waned. This paper summarizes development efforts by Technology Assessment and Transfer (TA&T) to fabricate transparent spinel with high optical quality for both transparent armor, and a selection of window and dome applications. A cooperative research and development agreement between TA&T and the US Army Research Laboratory is focused at optimizing processing parameters to maximize strength and transparency while minimizing the costs for fabrication by the hot-press/HIP approach. Present interest is in fabricating large armor panels of spinel up to 15 inches square and 0.5 inches thick, and in the fabrication of thinner windows and domes with the view to establishing TA&T as a commercial supplier of spinel in the near future.
Transparent spinel development
2000
10 Seiten, 8 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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