Improved Electrical Contact Materials for Extremely High Current Sliding Contact Materials Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Topic No.: N091-069 Topic Title: Improved Electrical Contact Materials for Extremely High Current Sliding Contact Materials Proposal No.: N091-069-1268 Firm: IAP Research, Inc. 2763 Culver Avenue Dayton, Ohio 45429-3723 Contact: Bhanumathi Chelluri Phone: (937) 296-1806 Web Site: www.iap.com Abstract: For Naval railgun technology to be a reality launch package armature mass and armature induced rail wear must be significantly reduced. Lighter materials with enhanced electro-thermal properties and mechanical properties equivalent to current aluminum alloys are required. IAP is proposing the development of a powder metal (P/M) magnesium armature material reinforced with aligned carbon nano-tube (CNT) fibers, which will significantly enhance the electro-thermal performance of the armature material. With appropriate alignment of the CNT fibers we expect to achieve armature mass reductions of 15-45% over conventional Al6061-T6 and Al7075-T6 materials. In addition, Magnesium P/M armatures may be beneficial to bore life in that they will not with potential rail surface materials such as steel. Benefits: If the proposed Phase I effort is successful, we will have shown the feasibility for a radically new approach for fabricating rail gun armature materials. The proposed use of PM carbon nano-tube reinforced composite technology will allow for the tailoring of electro-thermal armature properties. This could lead to significant reductions in armature parasitic mass and reduction in rail wear. The composite powder metal technology proposed in this Phase I effort, has significant commercial potential especially in the area of thermal management for power electronics. As the service temperature of power electronics devices increases, lightweight high thermal conductivity heat sink materials are required. The growing development of SiC devices will increase the demand for heat sink materials with tailorable thermal properties. Return