N112-091 TITLE: High Voltage Actuator Battery Development

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Weapons

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-259, Sidewinder AIM 9X Block Upgrade

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN CITIZENS (i.e., those holding non-U.S. Passports):  This topic is "ITAR Restricted."  The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120 - 130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data.  Foreign Citizens may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign citizen who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal will be rejected.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a robust high voltage battery that reduces internal impedance and supports conformal shapes. The new batteries should have cell voltage levels and high temperature storage performance comparable to existing cylindrically shaped lithium thermal batteries, while offering improved pulse power densities.

DESCRIPTION: Missile batteries are designed to perform in extreme captive carry and free flight environments following an extended period of storage: shelf life requirements of 20 years under high temperature conditions (71degrees Celsius) are typical. These batteries produce hundreds of high current pulses, often exceeding 4 amps/cm2, for very short durations and are required to perform within very short rise times of 0.3 seconds following precondition temperature environments of negative 54 to positive 71 degrees Celsius.

Such batteries must also survive captive carry vibration, acceleration, and shock imposed by the launch platform and then perform under even more stressful vibration, acceleration, and shock during free flight. They must remain safe and not vent or otherwise produce an ignition source following activation, whether in free flight or if the missile remains captive during a hung store condition. The batteries must also remain safe if activated with abnormal electrical loads and despite inadvertent manufacturing errors. Of primary interest is a high voltage actuator battery capable of sustaining the minimum voltage level under pulse loading of 10 amps/cm2, within a rise time of 0.3 seconds, that is also robust enough to survive the severe captive carry temperatures and vibration environment of an air launched missile. To meet the voltage regulation requirement, the internal impedance of this battery should be no more than 4 milliohms per cell. This effort must demonstrate a thermal battery with cross section ratio (width/thickness) of three to one or better.

The prototype device should be thin, stackable, and/or flexible enough to fit the spaces available on a rocket or missile and capable of providing scalable output. Achieving this goal would allow one standard battery technology to be used instead of many. The resulting common manufacturing process and increased production runs should both improve reliability and reduce manufacturing costs.

PHASE I: Develop solutions for a robust high voltage battery that meets the most critical engineering challenges identified. Demonstrate these solutions in lab experiments or single cell testing.

PHASE II: Design, fabricate, and test a prototype device meeting generalized performance requirements and conformal shape. The battery must contain a sufficient number of cells to confirm that all of the critical challenges have been overcome.

PHASE III: Design, fabricate, and test a sample quantity of batteries meeting actual missile performance, envelope, and weight requirements. These batteries will be subjected to non-operational environmental, performance, and U.S. Navy safety testing.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Highly reliable, compact, long-term electrical power storage devices would be useful as a reserve power source for electrical and plug-in hybrid vehicles. If a secondary battery can demonstrate the necessary performance and safety requirements under these environments, it could potentially be used as the main vehicle battery for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

REFERENCES:
1. Assistant Secretary of the Navy. (1991, September). Navy Primary and Secondary Batteries (NAVSO P-3676, Stock No. 0518-LP-207-7600).

2. Linden, D. (1984). Handbook of Batteries and Fuel Cells. NY: McGraw Hill.

3. Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity. (2004, August 19). Technical Manual for Batteries, Navy Lithium Safety Program Responsibilities and Procedures. (S9310 AQ SAF 010). Port Hueneme: Naval Surface Warfare Center.

KEYWORDS: reserve; thermal; battery; missile power; conformal; lithium

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between April 26 and May 25, 2011, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting May 26, 2011, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (11.2 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 11.2 topic under which they are proposing.

If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at (866) 724-7457 or email weblink.