University of Texas at El Paso Awards
- Project Name: Advancement of additive manufacturing process monitoring and metal matrix composite fabrication
Awarding Agency: US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center
Project Summary:
To enhance the capability of munitions and weapon systems the Army is investigating the use of additive manufacture (AM). This project aims are to: 1) Develop and demonstrate a real time in situ process monitoring and feedback system metal laser sintering and 2) Investigate the potential to manufacture of Metal-Matrix Composites (MMCs) via Direct Metal Laser Sintering.
Outcome:
The project activities and results produced the following: 1. Created crack free TiN samples, 2. Optimized parameters after TiN layer to reduce remelting, 3. Reduced nitride layer time to 12min per layer, and 4. Successfully created multi-layered TiN prints. - Project Name: Congealed Water Parameter Measurements
Awarding Agency: United States Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
Project Summary:
The Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) is a 10 mile long ground test facility that carries out high speed testing of aerospace technologies using rail-mounted rocket-propelled sleds. The highest speed tests are carried out using monorail sleds, as they are lighter weight and have lower aerodynamic drag than dual rail sleds. As such, the HHSTT is responsible for recovering monorail sleds from very high velocities using congealed water as a component of the braking mechanism. Therefore, a new environmentally acceptable formulation must be identified where the characteristics of the new formulation match those of the legacy formulation to ensure expected performance.
Outcome:
The project activities led to the completion of the objectives: (1) the development of congealed water viscous materials similar to those of the legacy formulation using in HSTT during the 1970s based on commercially available alternatives which will meet current environmental regulations at the federal and local levels and (2) the testing of the preparation process at similar scales utilized in the field.
