Pennsylvania scientists are studying a technique that's designed to put better armor on vehicles on the battlefield but could have other wide-ranging applications.
Morgan Advanced Materials & Technology is partnering with Penn State on researching a method of forming ceramic armor plates that weigh less than what's used now on vehicles like aircraft and Humvees. Morgan AM&T, materials engineering company that's based in Greenville, S.C., and has a facility in the northwest PA town of St. Marys, started out making ceramic components used in aircraft and heavy industry.
The company is working with a Penn State team led by Jogender Singh, a materials science and engineering professor. Steve Coppella, director of technology at Morgan AM&T, explains that the method they’re studying, called the field-assisted sintering technique, would involve using heat and electrical energy to combine ceramic particles into single pieces. The idea is to form these ceramic particles into bricks that could be sent to battlefields, then assembled into armor.
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northern and Central Pennsylvania are investing $25,000 into this project. Coppella says researchers are now trying to determine if the technique works well enough to be used on a large scale. That could take between three and five years, he says.
This method of forming ceramic could also be put into practice for medical purposes, like making artificial joints. “If you’re going to get a new hip joint in your body, you don't want it to have any flaws,” Coppella says.
Source: Steve Coppella, Morgan Advanced Materials & Technology
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen