Discontinuously reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites comprise a technologically matur-ing materials system capable of competing with conventional aluminum and titanium alloys andorganic matrix composites. For many years, metal matrix composites (MMC’s) have been apromising, and often-promised, structural materials solution. Recent successes embodied in theDefense Production Act Title III Program on Discontinuously Reinforced Aluminum (DRA)1

demonstrate that the investment and diligence of the composites community is starting to pay offin significant production volumes and high-visibility component applications. This article dis-cusses the technological development of DRA, the lessons learned about materials insertion fromthe Title III Program, and the recently launched Aluminum MMC Consortium.

DRA is an aluminum metal matrix composite where the reinforcement is a particulate, flake,whisker, or short fiber, typically of a strong, stiff ceramic material (see Figure 1). DRA is a highlyversatile engineering material with a unique combination of strength, stiffness, and affordability,as well as the ability to be processed and finished using conventional metal processing. It also hasgood wear and corrosion resistance and can beanodized. DRA technology has matured to the pointwhere components are now being produced for aircraftstructures, gas turbine engines, automobiles, electron-ics, spacecraft and recreational goods.

The early years of DRA development can be charac-terized as exploratory—defining manufacturingprocesses and materials properties and resolving thescope of application. From the late 1980s until the

Volume 2, Number 3

Spotlight on Technology … 3

AMPTIAC People… 5

ASIP Conference … 5

Hans von Ohain Dies … 6

New form of Carbon… 6

New Web Sites … 7

American Welding Society … 8

Recent Patents … 9

AMPTIAC Bestsellers … 11

Carbon-Carbon Radiator… 12

Recent Materials R&D… 13

Calendar … 14

AMPTIAC Directory … 15

The AMPTIAC Newsletteris published by AMPTIAC

a DoD Information Analysis Center.Please, if you wish to contact us,

you may do so at…

PH ONE: 315 .339 .7117

FAX: 315 .339 .7107

E M A I L : amp t i a c@ i i t r i . o r g

ht tp : / / amp t i a c . i i t r i . o r g

AMPTIAC is a DoD Information Analysis Center Sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center and Operated by IIT Research Institute

Guest EditorialProgress & Promise in

Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites Dr. Benji MaruyamaMetals, Ceramics, and NDE Division, Materials & Manufacturing Directorate,

Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433, E-mail: maruyab@ml.wpafb.af.mil

Figure 1.Microstructureof 6092 AlMatrix withSiC particles.

Available from DTICEvaluation of Microstructure of a 6092 Al-17.5 Volume Percent SiC particle Reinforced CompositeUsing Electron Backscatter Pattern (EBSP) Analysis Methods, John J. Markovich, Naval PostgraduateSchool, Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering, Monterey, CA, March 1998, 79 pages.

Microtexture and grain boundary misorientation data were obtained for a 6092 Al-17.5 volumepercent SiC particle reinforced material as a function of processing history. Computer aided elec-tron backscatter pattern (EBSP) analysis methods in a scanning electron microscope were used toobtain grain-specific orientation measurements by traversing along a pattern of lines on the sur-face of a metallographic sample. As part of this project, it was necessary to develop ion millingmethods to obtain a sufficiently strain free condition of the aluminum matrix to allow diffractionpatterns to be obtained. These methods were applied to samples extruded at various strain ratesand processing temperatures; the data revealed that recrystallization had occurred at all processingconditions. Analysis of crystal orientations and grain-to-grain misorientation data revealed ran-dom distributions consistent with predictions of the particle - stimulated nucleation theory ofrecrystallization. Additionally, spacing measurements were taken between orientation measure-ments. The result of this analysis indicated a very fine matrix microstructure.

Note: The complete report is available through DTIC, Order Number AD-A343695. Call 1-800-CAL-DTIC (1-800-225-3842) for more information. n

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AMPTIACA D VA N C E D M AT E R I A L S A N D P R O C E S S E S T E C H N O L O G Y

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Fall, 1998

early 1990s, larger companies such as ALCOA, ALCAN,and British Petroleum entered the technology area in aneffort to take it from the laboratory to the marketplace.These companies were not able to develop a sufficientmarket for their continued interest, and they have sinceseverely reduced their effort in the technology. In the late1980s, the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate ofthe Air Force Research Laboratory (then WrightLaboratory) advocated and sponsored a DefenseProduction Act Title III Program in DRA. This programultimately yielded many successes, including break-through production of military and commercial applica-tions for metal matrix composites.

The purpose of Title III programs is to nurture military-critical technologies for use in military systems. It isfundamentally a business development program, not amaterials development program; i.e., the technologyshould be sufficiently mature that properties and fabrica-tion methods are well developed. Often, new technologiesface a “Catch-22” conundrum: if the material could beproduced at a low enough cost, end-users would be willingto adopt it. However, the cost cannot be lowered until suf-ficiently large demand is established and economies ofscale can be achieved. What Title III provides is the costand risk reduction needed to spur implementation of thetechnology by providing sufficient purchase commitmentsto encourage scale-up. Beyond this, the DRA Title IIIProgram was structured as an integrated industry/federalgovernment team of product suppliers and end-users com-bined with program engineering, business analytical sup-port, and technical sponsorship and oversight. The inte-grated teaming, business focus, and later emphasis on end-user participation together made the program a great suc-cess, as recognized by the General Yates Award forTechnology Transition awarded to the Title III DRATeam.1

At the beginning of the Title III Program, DWAComposite Specialties (now DWA AluminumComposites) was essentially an R&D house, producingsignificant but limited DRA applications such as theHubble Space Telescope antenna wave guide mast andelectronic packages for satellites, as well as numerousdemonstration components. However, it had no continu-ing, large-volume product demand. Additionally, its pro-duction capacity was limited by the largest billet available,200 lb. This also limited their ability to manufacture larg-er product forms, such as wide sheet; the billet would lit-erally fall through the conveyor rolls of the larger rollingmills. The initial goals of the program targeted scale-up ofthe billet manufacturing process to 600 lb. billets andreduction of the billet sale price from $40/lb. to the targetprice of $22/lb. These goals were exceeded; the billet pricewas reduced to $16/lb., thebillet size increased to 825 lb.,and the production capacitywas demonstrated to be>150,000 lb./year. Theshrinking defense budget ofthe early 1990s made it clear,though, that reduced cost andincreased production capacitywere necessary but not suffi-cient to achieve successfulmarket penetration. The gov-ernment and industry part-nership soon realized thatsuccessful commercializationof DRA depended greatly onthe buy-in from an end-user,i.e., an organizational com-mitment to co-developingand evaluating a componentapplication. To facilitate this,an important strategic deci-sion was made to pursue Mil-5 Handbook certification inorder to increase designerconfidence in the material(certification is pending as of this writing). Additionally,several key end-users were recruited: the F-16 SystemsProgram Office and Ogden Air Logistics Center,Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, and Pratt &Whitney/United Technologies. These User-Evaluatorsworked as part of the team to design, produce and evalu-ate DRA applications, which led to the first productionapplications of any MMC component in their industrysectors.

The F-16 Falcon’s ventral fins (see Figure 2)2 provide lat-eral stability during high angle of attack maneuvers. Theywere originally made from aluminum alloy sheets bondedto honeycomb cores. The low stiffness of the aluminumskins combined with in-flight buffeting caused the ventral

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 32

Aluminum Metal MatrixComposites

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Figure 2. Clockwise from above: F-16 in flight, failed ventral fin with aluminum skin, improved DRA ventral fin.

The DRA ventral fin is

projected to last over

6000 flight hours, and

it is now a preferred

spare for all older

USAF, Reserve, and

Air National Guard

F-16s.

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3 3

IntroductionWithout electronic materials databases, engineers resortto looking up data by hand using databooks and proper-ty sheets. Finding data via this method is both inefficientand time consuming – much like finding a needle in ahaystack. Most importantly, the excess data retrieval timeoften prevents the designer from being able to fully per-form his or her duties. Electronic databases allow effi-cient access to material properties and characteristics byorganizing large quantities of data, often searchablethrough automated procedures. Databases also preservecorporate expertise making past work available at an engi-neer’s fingertips and allowing for swift updates to theknowledge base.

Types of Materials DatabasesToday’s material databases contain bibliographic informa-tion (citations) or numeric property information.Bibliographic databases like the Chemical Abstracts,patent searches, and the Commerce Business Daily, havebeen used for years. Most of these databases rely on key-word searches that can unnecessarily eliminate citations ofinterest. Tomorrow’s bibliographic database will com-pletely capture information on a topic by searching allfields of a citation (title, author, abstract, etc.) using anycombination of words. In addition, virtual libraries nowexist with electronic documents accessible to the user. Agood example of this is the Naval Research Laboratory’sonline library at http://infoweb.nrl.navy.mil/.

Two of the most frequently asked questions AMPTIACgets are “What is the value of property x for material y?”or “Will our material work in this environment?”. Toanswer these questions with any certainty, a completematerials pedigree is needed. Thus numerical databasesmust describe processing history, test method and condi-tions, physical form, composition and data source to pre-vent misuse and to interpret the fidelity of the data. Casehistories of failures also help designers deduce whether thematerial is fit for a specific application. A comprehensivenumeric materials database should include all these topicsas text fields. Moreover, graphic displays enable directviewing of microstructures, phase diagrams, continuouscooling transformation diagrams, and time-temperaturetransformation curves. These graphical displays helpcharacterize a material in conjunction with traditionaltextual descriptors. The actual property data must be ina form easily manipulated and displayed. Good numeri-cal databases include software tools that allow a variety ofdisplay methods. To name a few desires, for instance,users crave transparent unit conversion, display of multi-ple plots, scaleable plot axes, and linear and logarithmicaxes.

Materials Database LimitationsUsing materials databases requires sound engineeringjudgment. Because databases are just tools to aid problem

solving, database users must be cognizant of their limita-tions. One possible limitation is the lack of database stan-dards. Any collection of data could be marketed as a data-base with no regard to the pedigree of the information itcontains. The difference between using statistically sig-nificant engineering values and typical materials values isnot just academic. It is an economic issue as well. Lackof pedigreed information can mean additional, sometimescostly, testing. It may also mean that a component mustbe over-designed to allow for adequate safety factors,which also adds to manufacturing cost or degradation ofperformance. Fortunately, ASTM Committee E49 isestablishing standards for materials databases whichinclude standardization of the metadata, or informationabout the data, required for adequate material and testmethod identification. When implemented, these stan-dards will reduce database costs and facilitate the devel-opment of new databases. Some of the items E49 exam-ines include materials designations, data formats, anddata quality. Data quality has particular importance sincea database is only as good as the data in it.

The exploding availability of technical data from hand-books, electronic databases, on-line libraries and theWorld Wide Web requires the user of this data to be cog-nizant of what data evaluation, if any, was performed.While diverse abundant materials data exists, good engi-neering data is still hard to obtain. Materials newsgroupsoffer expedient answers to pressing questions; however,data obtained in newsgroups often contain imprompturesponses. Designers no longer have the luxury of “over-designing” a component either because of weight con-straints or material cost; precise materials informationensures a reliable prediction of component performance.Data evaluation determines the quality of a given set ofdata through documentation of the data generation,adherence to established physical laws, and comparisonsamong similar measurements.1 Additionally, evaluatedmaterials property data within a database helps an engi-neer discover material property deficiencies immediately,thus greatly reducing testing requirements.

AMPTIAC DatabasesWith its library of over 250,000 technical documents,and its access to over 300 software engineers in IITRI,AMPTIAC is making the fusion of computer and materi-als technologies possible. AMPTIAC is currently design-ing a number of databases. For example, “The NavyMetallic Materials Property Database” will function as amaterials selection tool for fracture critical applicationsand an alloy properties resource for naval shipbuilders.Another numerical database currently under developmentis “The Infrared Window and Dome Material Database.”In addition to numerical databases, bibliographic data-bases such as the “National Aerospace Plane Database”(NASP), the “Proceedings of the High Temperature

Spotlight on Technology: Materials Databases—Critical Design Assets

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The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 34

fins to fail after only 400 hours on average — sometimesshearing off in flight. DRA, because it offers 40%increased stiffness over aluminum at essentially the samedensity, was a good candidate to reduce the deflections.Ogden Air Logistics Center, the F-16 Systems ProgramOffice, and Lockheed redesigned and qualified animproved ventral fin incorporating DRA sheet skins andan improved leading edge. The DRA ventral fin is pro-jected to last over 6000 flight hours, and it is now a pre-ferred spare for all older USAF, Reserve, and Air NationalGuard F-16s. It is expected to save the Air Force approx-imately $21 million in life cycle costs.

The success of the ventral fin laid the groundwork forthe second success story, the F-16 fuel access cover doors(see Figure 3). Improved door fasteners reduced aircraftskin stresses by transferring load to the doors.Unfortunately this led to overloading and cracking of theconventional aluminum doors. A proposed option ofselective doubling of the door thickness would haveincreased the weight of a plane already overweight. DRA,again because of its increased stiffness, survived the load-ing with no increase in weight and helped to reduce thestresses in the skin by a minimum of 38%. As a result, 26of 28 fuel access cover doors will be retrofitted with DRAas part the Falcon UP! Upgrade program.

The third success story from the Title III program wasthe fan exit guide vane component in the Pratt & Whitney4000 series gas turbine engines. These high-thrust enginespower many of the Boeing 777 commercial airliners (seeFigure 4). The Fan Exit Guide Vanes (FEGV’s) are locat-ed in the bypass section behind the fan. They improvethrust and engine efficiency by straightening swirl pro-duced by the fan. FEGV’s on previous engines were madefrom organic matrix composites, and they had poor resis-tance to erosion (by rain, dirt, etc.) and foreign objectdamage (e.g. hail, stones, bird strikes: see Figure 4). Thisled to poor damage tolerance and frequent replacement.Also, the cost of materials and labor to manufacture the

composite made the acquisition cost high. Pratt &Whitney and the Title III Team were able to qualifyan FEGV made from DRA as the only bill-of-mate-rial for all of their 90,000 lb. thrust class engines.This technological success is even more significantconsidering the difficulty of producing the complexdouble-hollow extrusion to aerospace tolerances.Pratt & Whitney has quoted an acquisition cost sav-ings of $100 million over 10 years; the figure for lifecycle cost savings is approximately twice as much.

The Title III successes are by no means the onlysignificant production applications of DRA. DRAelectronic packages fly in the Iridium network ofcommunication satellites, where they are used fortheir tailorable thermal expansion, low weight, andhigh thermal conductivity. Overall, the current mar-ket size for DRA electronic packages (also known asAlSiC, for Aluminum Silicon Carbide) is in the hun-dreds of thousands of parts per year. Duralcan, Inc.

(Novi, Michigan) DRA is used to make the ChevroletCorvette and GM S/T truck drive shafts, reducing weightand part-count. All Honda Prelude engines since 1997have chopped fiber reinforced aluminum cylinder liners.The Plymouth Prowler™ and GM Electronic Vehicle-1have DRA brake rotors and drums, respectively, utilizingDRA’s low density and high wear resistance.

People are often surprised to hear of the large number ofproduction applications of DRA and the advances made inmaterials properties and manufacturing technology.Despite these achievements, discontinuously reinforcedmetals suffer from two important misperceptions whichimpede their acceptance:

Figure 3. F-16 Fuel Access CoverDoors. Right, F-16 duringDepot repair. Above, doors to bereplaced with DRA.

Figure 4. P&W Fan Exit Guide Vanes. Upper left, Boeing 777 commercial airliner andP&W 4084 Engine with fan removed, showing guide vanes. Immediately below, resultsof foreign object damage test: a heavily damaged organic matrix composite vane and alightly damaged DRA vane.

Boeing 777

P&W 4084 guide vanes

Organic matrix composite vane after foreign object damage test.

DRA vane after same test.

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5The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3

Polymer Workshop” (High Temple), and the Cocoa Beach Conference are nearing completion. These biblio-graphic databases search citations under title, author, andkeyword abstract fields. Moreover, the electronic docu-ments are directly linked to each citation. These special-ized databases essentially behave as a virtual library, allow-ing access to not only the title, author and abstract of adocument but also an electronic image of the documentitself. This powerful feature will allow scientists and engi-neers instant access to the reports and documents of pre-

vious research efforts and facilitate use of the informationcontained in those documents for future research.

For further information regarding AMPTIAC’s data-base efforts, contact Jeff Guthrie, at 315-339-7058 oremail to jguthrie@iitri.org.

1. “Reliable Materials Data: The Whys and Wherefores of DataEvaluation”, John Rumble Jr. and Charles Sturrock, AMPTIACNewsletter, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1998.

David H. Rose was recently named as theDirector of AMPTIAC, replacing Steven J.Flint, who had been Director since the AMP-TIAC contract award in November 1996. Mr.Rose was previously AMPTIAC’s DeputyDirector since September 1997.

Rose is a retired U.S. Air Force officer withextensive knowledge in polymers and organicmatrix composites. During his Air Forcecareer, he spent five years at the Air ForceWright Laboratory’s Materials Directorate(now part of AFRL). While there, he wasresponsible for fabricating novel forms of com-posite materials and was granted a U.S. Patentfor his work in producing laminates contain-ing prestressed fibers. Mr. Rose also conduct-ed an extensive experimental program, which

studied damage initiation and progression instructural laminates identical to those used onthe F-22 fighter. This work formed the basisfor an ongoing, industry-supported effort toproduce analytical methods which predict thestrength of bolted composite joints. Aftertransferring to The Air Force’s RomeLaboratory (also now part of AFRL), Mr. Rosewas responsible for investigating the mecha-nisms which contribute to the delamination ofplastic encapsulated integrated circuits.

At AMPTIAC, Mr. Rose is responsible forall facets of the operation, including planningand coordination of new AMPTIAC productsand services. He can be reached at …315-339-7023 or email: drose@iitri.org. n

AMPTIAC People: David Rose Named New AMPTIAC Director

David H. Rose, AMPTIAC Director.

The 1998 USAF Aircraft Structural Integrity ProgramConference has been scheduled for December 1 - 3, 1998,at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Hotel in San Antonio,Texas

The conference is sponsored by the Materials andManufacturing Directorate and the Air VehiclesDirectorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory and theDeputy for Engineering, Aeronautical Systems Center,Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It is co-sponsoredand hosted by the Aircraft Structural Integrity Branch,Aircraft Directorate, San Antonio Air Logistics Center,Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. It is intended to bring togeth-er world leaders in the area of aircraft structural integrityand associated technologies to exchange information onthe latest developments in the design and acquisition of

new aircraft systems and the maintenance of aging aircraftsystems in both military and commercial fleets. This is anunclassified/unlimited attendance open conference whichhas been held in San Antonio for the last eleven years andhas become internationally recognized as the most mean-ingful conference held in this technical area. A large num-ber of well-qualified foreign nationals attend, bringing avery broad perspective to the technology being discussed.

For more information, call Dr. Jack Lincoln, ASC/EN,WPAFB, OH at 937-255-5312, FAX 937-656-4546 orUniversal Technology Corporation (UTC) at 937-426-2802 and ask for the 1998 USAF Aircraft StructuralIntegrity Program Conference Desk, FAX 937-426-8755.Conference information can also be found athttp://www.asipcon.com. n

ASIP Conference In San Antonio

MaterialsDatabases

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The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 36

Few technological advances have had such a profound effect on initiating a need for new and improved materials as didthe invention of the jet engine. While most of those involved in materials research are familiar with the materials used inmodern day jet engines, fewer know the history behind its development and the insightful engineers who were instru-mental in its discovery. Recently one of these inventors, Dr. Hans von Ohain, died at the age of 86. At this time, it isappropriate to review his life and the effect his work has had on the materials sciences.

In the years leading up to World War II, two researchers were independently working on developing jet engine tech-nology. The first successful prototype was a small engine, the WU, which was designed by Sir Frank Whittle. WhileWhittle’s engine was the first to run in a laboratory setting, his efforts were soon passed by Germany’s Hans von Ohain.Von Ohain’s research led to the first successful flight of a jet powered aircraft, the Heinkel He178, which flew overGermany’s Baltic Coast on August 27th, 1939. This aircraft was followed by the first operational jet fighter, theMesserschmitt Me262. Great Britain entered the jet age with the first flight of the experimental Gloster E28/39 on May15th, 1941, and later developed their own jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor.

Following the war, research into turbine engines proceeded at a tremendous pace. Von Ohain remained a key memberof the propulsion community. After immigrating to the United States, he went to work for the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB. He ended his career in 1979, when he retired as the Chief Scientist of both the Aerospace ResearchLaboratories and the Air Force Propulsion Laboratory. Following his retirement, von Ohain took a part-time job as aSenior Research Engineer with the University of Dayton Research Institute and as a professor in UD’s MechanicalEngineering Department. In 1991, von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle, who died in 1996, were jointly awarded theCharles Stark Draper medal from the National Academy of Engineering for their achievements in jet propulsion.

Hans von Ohain lived to see his dream of jet propulsion advance from its infancy to today’s technological marvels suchas the GE 90 or PW4000 used on Boeing’s 777 and the F119 used to power the US Air Force’s newest jet fighter, the F-22. The technology developed by von Ohain and Whittle established the requirement for high temperature, creep resis-tant materials. This requirement initiated decades of research that led to the development of new and improved metals,ceramics, and composites. Without this research, many of the materials used for high temperature structural applicationswould not be available to present-day engineers.

Hans von Ohain, Jet Engine Pioneer, Dies

NEWS RELEASE, BERKELEY, CA — A team of theo-rists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory, whose calculations motivated thesuccessful synthesis of materials based on carbon-36fullerenes, has calculated that these systems may lose allelectrical resistance at temperatures far higher than anyother carbon structure — perhaps even at temperatures inthe range that superconducting copper-oxide ceramicshave achieved.

“The highest-temperature superconductor is the homerun that everybody is trying to hit,” says Marvin Cohen,who with Steven G. Louie heads a theory group inBerkeley Lab’s Material Sciences Division (MSD); bothare professors of physics at the University of California atBerkeley. “Even if the carbon-36 materials don’t achievethis, they give us a new class of solids to help develop ourknowledge about this field.”

Cohen says, “If you intercalate potassium atoms amongthe planes of graphite, even graphite becomes supercon-ducting — but at half a degree Kelvin,” an inconvenient-ly low temperature. “On the other hand, C-60 ‘bucky-balls’ doped with alkali metals can be superconductors atup to 40 K. Part of the explanation seems to be the cur-vature of the ball.”

A closed carbon structure with more overall curvaturethan C-60 is expected to have fewer atoms; while

fullerenes smaller than C-60 have been observed, experi-menters Charles Piskoti, Alex Zettl, and Jeff Yarger of UCBerkeley, who are also with Berkeley Lab’s MSD, were thefirst to extract an appreciable amount of C-36, havingbeen encouraged by the Cohen-Louie group’s theoreticalcalculations. The Zettl group announced the isolation ofbulk samples of C-36 in Nature on 25 June, 1998.

Graduate student Michel Côté and postdoctoral fellowJeffrey C. Grossman of the Cohen-Louie group empha-size the value of their close working relationship withZettl’s experimental group. “The cross fertilization hashelped us all,” says Grossman. Long ago, the 18th centu-ry mathematician Leonhard Euler established that everyclosed polygon made with hexagons and pentagons mustcontain exactly 12 pentagons. C-60’s soccer-ball shape isthe smallest possible structure in which the 12 do nottouch; in any smaller structure, the pentagons musttouch.

Indeed, the likeliest structure incorporating 36 carbonatoms consists of two “bowls,” each a hexagon surround-ed by six pentagons; each bowl has 18 vertices whereatoms sit. The two pentagon-sided bowls face each other,forming an equatorial belt of six more hexagons. Theresulting structure has so-called D6h symmetry, meaningthat if it is rotated around its long axis, it looks the sameafter each sixth of a turn, and if it is sliced through the

New Form of Carbon Could be a Higher-Temperature Superconductor

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The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3 7

1. MMC’s are too expensive. As discussed above, DRA cancompete with, and has replaced, organic matrix composites,titanium, and aluminum; some applications are based on lifecycle costs, some strictly on acquisition cost, and some are inthe very cost-sensitive automotive market.

2. DRA is a niche material. Although it is true that DRA isnot produced in high volume, DRA is a versatile material cur-rently in use in the aerospace, electronics, and transportationindustries.

Today we are at a critical point in the development of AlMMC technology. While the materials community has comea long way towards making the technology an available tool forthe design engineer, much remains to be done to ensure its via-bility in the long term. The future impact and utility of alu-minum MMC’s will be governed by our ability to tackleremaining barriers to implementation in the near term and tofully develop their capabilities to ensure viability in the future.The Aluminum MMC Consortium3, founded in December1997, is dedicated to expanding opportunities for aluminumMMC’s through manufacturing technology development andeducation. It is an integrated industry/federal governmentconsortium based on the lessons learned from the Title IIIProgram but with a scope widened to include defense and com-mercial/non-military sectors such as transportation and elec-tronics. Its members now include transportation, electronics,and aerospace companies as well as aluminum MMC suppli-ers3. In keeping with the spirit of government/industry part-nership, the Air Force Research Laboratory Materials andManufacturing Directorate played a key role in the formationof the ALMMC Consortium, and it has signed aMemorandum of Agreement with the Consortium as an

Affiliate Participant. The Consortium has identified threemanufacturing technology development areas to pursue initial-ly: machining/material removal, deformation processing, andperformance qualification of composites. It has also identifiedthe need for a coordinated resource to provide expertise con-cerning aluminum MMC’s, as well as a need to promote designconfidence and market acceptance. The Consortium has cre-ated the ALMMC User Resource Center to coordinate infor-mation dissemination, education and advocacy of the technol-ogy with end-users and the media, in cooperation with otherMMC resources such as Mil-5 and Mil-17 Handbooks and theDoD Information Analysis Centers. There are several otherimportant technology development programs in aluminumMMC’s that the Consortium is aware of but not directlyinvolved in, including the USAMP Low-Cost ParticleReinforced Aluminum Project, the American Foundry Society’seffort in cast DRA, the DoD Commercial Operation andSupport Savings Initiative (COSSI) and the Title III(Army/TACOM) Program in whisker reinforced aluminum4.

While the importance of the problems these programsaddress is widely known in the Al MMC community, the bar-riers to their solution have been the lack of resources of thesmall materials producers and a lack of technology pull on thepart of the end-users. The Consortium intends to overcomethese barriers by teaming materials suppliers’ and end-users’resources and by defining and executing an integrated andstructured program of technical and market development forAl MMC’s. The Consortium will act as an administrative andexecutive umbrella organization for its members’ joint effortsand as the focal point for providing MMC expertise and iden-tifying future development and User Resource efforts.

Many of AMPTIAC’s newsletter readers and web page users have sug-gested materials-related websites to be added to the web page. The fol-lowing websites have been added recently. If you have a website youwould like to list, or if you know of any useful materials-relatedwebsites, submit it through the AMPTIAC web page at… http://amptiac.iitri.org

Federal Acquisition Jump StationLinks to federal government acquisitions on theinternethttp://nais.nasa.gov/fedproc/home.html

Materials Properties Handbooks OperationDistributes The Aerospace Structural MetalsHandbook, The Structural Alloys Handbook, TheDamage Tolerant Design Handbook, and TheComposite Failure Analysis Handbook.http://www.purdue.edu/MPHO

Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Institute

Virtual library, information sources on rapid prototypinghttp://rpmi.marc.gatech.edu

Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites ConsortiumOverview, membership information, calendar of events

http://www.almmc.com

NIST Center for Theoretical and ComputationalMaterials ScienceArchives, software, project descriptionshttp://www.ctcms.nist.gov

NIST Ceramics Web BookNIST databases for ceramics, including Property Data

Summaries for Advanced Materials, High TemperatureSuperconducting Materials Database, and Structural

Ceramics Database.http://www.ceramics.nist.gov/webbook/webbook.htm

New Web Sites added to AMPTIAC Material Web Sites Links

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The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 38

NEWS RELEASE—MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHTCENTER, HUNTSVILLE, AL. The Marshall Space FlightCenter was recently honored by the American WeldingSociety for its development of the Space Shuttle externaltank.

The American Welding Society presented its HistoricalWelded Structure Award to the Marshall Center for theexternal tank, built in the mid-1970s as part of the mainpropulsion test article. That tank is on display with a full-scale mock-up of the Shuttle orbiter and solid rocket boost-ers at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville.Parker Counts, manager of the External Tank Project atMarshall, accepted the award for the Marshall team.

The award recognizes welded structures of historical sig-nificance and importance. Marshall was selected for theaward because of the advanced technology and high quali-ty of welding used in construction of the external tankfrom the propulsion test article. The tank was a significantpiece of test hardware in verifying the design of theShuttle’s giant fuel tank.

“This is quite an honor to receive thisprestigious award,” said Counts. “It took agreat team effort to design and build theexternal tank. The tank being recognizedby the American Welding Society is thefirst manufactured for the Shuttle program.Since that time, we’ve had 91 flights of theexternal tank.”

The Space Shuttle external tank, whichprovides propellants to the Shuttle’s threemain engines during the first eight-and-one-half minutes of flight, has performedflawlessly on every Shuttle mission. At 154feet long and more than 27 feet in diame-ter, the external tank is the largest singlecomponent of the Space Shuttle and thestructural backbone of the system. It is thelargest welded aluminum structure everflown and has over one-half mile of welds.

The June 2, 1998, launch of the STS-91 mission was themaiden flight of the new, super lightweight external tank.The new tank weighs about 7,500 pounds less than thetank it replaced - a weight reduction that was necessary forlaunching heavy pieces of the International Space Stationfor assembly on orbit.

The external tank program is managed by the MarshallSpace Flight Center. The tank is manufactured byLockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility inNew Orleans, Louisiana.

Editor’s Note: IIT Research Institute (IITRI) operates the MetallurgyResearch Facility (MRF) for NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center. RecentIITRI activities at MRF have focused on supporting the development of thesuper light weight external tank through extensive testing and characterizationof both weldments and parent material. Dr. A.K. Kuruvilla, the AMPTIACTechnical Director for metals and metal matrix composites, also supportsNASA directly as a staff member at MRF. n

American Welding Society Honors Marshall Space Flight Centerfor Development of the Space Shuttle External Tank

Figure 1. The first Space Shuttle Super Lightweight Tank, built by Lockheed MartinMichoud Space Systems. The 154-foot tank weighs 7,500 lbs less than the previous version.

Overall, the future of discontinuously reinforced metalslooks bright. Technology transition is well underway; thematerial is gaining acceptance in a wide range of industrysectors, and is being used in some high-profile applica-tions. Today we are at a critical juncture, where years ofR&D are just beginning to pay off, but continued invest-ment is necessary to achieve our goal of wide-scale AlMMC use. The ALMMC Consortium and similar tech-nology and business development efforts should do muchtowards this goal. Ultimately our materials developmentobjective should be to provide design engineers with a

better design tool, one that is dependable, available andaffordable. Discontinuously reinforced aluminum tech-nologies will provide this tool.

Web-Site References

1. Title III Program in DRA:http://134.131.37.135/successes/afst/t3ra.htm

2. FEGV: http://134.131.37.135/successes/afst/dra.htmhttp://www.acq.osd.mil/es/dut/titleiii/web/dra.htm

3. ALMMC Consortium: www.almmc.com4. COSSI/Title III/Dual Use: www.acq.osd.mil/es/dut/ n

9The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3

Patent no. Title

5,793,519 Micromolded integrated ceramic light reflector 5,792,727 Lubricant compositions 5,792,521 Method for forming a multilayer thermal barrier

coating 5,792,403 Method of molding green bodies 5,792,379 Low-loss PZT ceramic composition cofirable with

silver at a reduced sintering temperature and processfor producing same

5,791,421 Optimal material pair for metal face seal in earth-boring bits

5,791,395 One shot multi-color metal casting method 5,791,336 Frameless cooktop 5,791,308 Plug assembly 5,791,040 Method for making ceramic tools for the production

of micromagnets 5,790,575 Diode laser pumped solid state laser gain module 5,790,386 High I/O density MLC flat pack electronic compo-

nent 5,790,156 Ferroelectric relaxor actuator for an ink-jet print

head 5,790,001 Shield and ceramic filter 5,789,686 Composite cermet articles and method of making 5,789,361 Non-caustic cleaning composition comprising perox-

ygen compound and specific silicate, and method ofmaking same in free-flowing, particulate form

5,788,916 Hip joint prostheses and methods for manufacturing the same

5,788,799 Apparatus and method for cleaning of semiconduc-tor process chamber surfaces

5,788,788 Preparation of a solid oxide fuel cell having thin electrolyte and interconnect layers

5,788,434 Apparatus for facing a bearing cap 5,788,027 Trim shoe 5,787,578 Method of selectively depositing a metallic layer on a

ceramic substrate 5,786,565 Match head ceramic igniter and method of using

same 5,786,287 IR transmitting rare earth gallogermanate glass-

ceramics 5,786,286 Glass ceramic rear panel for emissive display

5,786,045 Combination log-set system 5,785,911 Method of forming ceramic igniters 5,785,851 High capacity filter 5,785,799 Apparatus for attaching heat sinks directly to chip

carrier modules using flexible epoxy 5,785,774 Process for producing heat treatment atmospheres 5,785,721 Fuel injector nozzle with preheat sheath for reducing

thermal shock damage 5,785,582 Split abrasive fluid jet mixing tube and system 5,785,510 Gear pump having members with different hardness-

es 5,783,980 Ceramic filter with notch configuration 5,783,890 Imprinted geometric magnetic anticog permanent

magnet motor 5,783,879 Micromotor in a ceramic substrate 5,783,877 Linear motor with improved cooling 5,783,866 Low cost ball grid array device and method of

manufacture thereof 5,783,624 Transparent polymer composites having a low ther-

mal expansion coefficient 5,783,507 Partially crystallizing lead-free enamel composition

for automobile glass 5,783,506 Ceramic glaze including pearlescent pigment 5,783,464 Method of forming a hermetically sealed circuit

lead-on package 5,783,371 Process for manufacturing optical data storage disk

stamper 5,783,315 Ti-Cr-Al protective coatings for alloys 5,783,308 Ceramic reinforced fluoropolymer 5,783,297 Materials for shock attenuation 5,783,259 Method of manufacturing molds, dies or forming

tools having a cavity formed by thermal spraying 5,783,074 Magnetic fluid conditioner 5,782,910 Cardiovascular implants of enhanced biocompatibili-

ty 5,782,891 Implantable ceramic enclosure for pacing, neurologi-

cal, and other medical applications in the human

AMPTIAC Wants Your ContributionsWe hope you find this issue of the AMPTIAC Newsletter useful and interesting. You can help us to better serve you by your contributions…

• Your comments on what you liked and disliked about the Newsletter• Your suggestions for AMPTIAC data products and services• Technical articles, opinion pieces, tutorials, news releases or letters to the Editor for publication in the Newsletter

To contact AMPTIAC, use any of the ways listed on the back cover, or use the feedback form on the AMPTIAC webpage. Your contributions are always welcome. n

Recent Patents for Materials and Materials Processing

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 310

equator, its top and bottom are identical. A carbon atomin the D6h structure may have one of three differentbonding configurations, depending on its relation to itsneighbors. Thus C-36 has what Grossman calls “threeunique atoms.”

Côté says, “The strain on the bonds among atoms influ-ences electron-phonon coupling, and according to BCStheory” — advanced in 1957 by John Bardeen, LeonCooper, and Robert Schriefer to explain superconductivi-ty in terms of the motion of electron pairs — “electron-phonon coupling is a mechanism that makes supercon-ductivity possible.”

Phonons are a way of representing atomic vibrations ina solid; oscillations in interatomic charge can make it pos-sible for electrons to move as pairs. Strained or “bent”bonds between carbon atoms in fullerenes may exposeelectron orbitals normally unaffected by the vibrationalmodes in flat graphite. The more electron orbitals theatomic vibrations can affect, the greater the potential forelectron-photon coupling and the greater the prospects forsuperconductivity.

Carbon atoms at the vertices of a pentagon are undermore strain than those at the vertices of a hexagon.Moreover, “clustering of pentagons creates severelystrained atomic sites,” says Côté. Every atom in the D6hstructure is at the vertex of one or two pentagons.

Although Côté and Grossman did their calculations onindividual molecules first, “which electrons coupledepends on how the molecules form a solid,” Grossmansays. If the D6h fullerenes are arranged in a repeatingcrystal lattice, two close-packed arrangements are possible:the hexagonal, in which each molecule sits directly overanother, and the rhombohedral, in which each moleculeperches midway between the molecules below it.

Working with colleagues at Berkeley Lab’s NationalEnergy Research Scientific Computing Center, Côté andGrossman used the pseudopotential method pioneered byMarvin Cohen in calculating the electronic densities andother properties of the two crystals. They calculated thatthe rhombohedral crystal would be metallic and that thehexagonal crystal, which is slightly favored energetically,would be an insulator. A striking difference between C-36crystals and those of C-60 is that C-36 molecules are cova-

lently bonded — much more tightly bound than bucky-balls in a crystal.

Côté and Grossman estimated the electron-phononcoupling for these solids and — by making the plausibleassumption that certain factors are the same as for C-60 —found that the temperature at which solid C-36 becomessuperconducting could be as much as three times higher.Not room temperature, exactly — but plenty hot enoughto encourage further investigation of this new material.

“However,” says Grossman, “the superconducting tem-perature depends on other factors besides the electron-phonon coupling, so it’s hard to make quantitative predic-tions from theory.” While preliminary results indicate thepossibility of raising the superconducting temperature ofC-36 above the boiling point of nitrogen, 77 degreesKelvin, whether it can be raised even higher — above thatof the present record-holder, which at ambient pressurebecomes superconducting at 135 degrees Kelvin — isuncertain.

To resolve these uncertainties, Côté and Grossman areextending and continuing their calculations. In the mean-time, they emphasize the implications of their latest theo-retical work for the progress of materials science.

“We’re no longer saying, ‘Here’s a model of somethingyou may never see’,” says Grossman. “Because of increasedcomputing power and highly developed algorithms, wecan now construct realistic physical models and then makepredictions from first principles about real materials whichcan be made.”

“We were able to tell the experimenters in advance thata C-36 crystal should form,” Côté adds, “and by specify-ing different properties, we could help them decide whichform they had made.” Côté, Grossman, Cohen, andLouie discuss their investigation of electron-phonon inter-actions in solid C-36 in Physical Review Letters, July 20,1998, and the structure and properties of molecular C-36in Chemical Physics Letters, March 6, 1998.

The Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energynational laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It con-ducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by theUniversity of California. For more information on super-conducting carbon, contact: Paul Preuss, (510) 486-6249,paul_preuss@lbl.gov. n

continuedfrom page 6

Retiring? Reorganizing? Running our of storage space? Have to dispose of no-longer-needed materials data? Please, don’t trash it!Donate it to AMPTIAC, where it can continue to be of use.

The AMPTIAC Library continually seeks data of interest to the materials community in its five areas of interest: ceramics and ceram-ic composites; organic structures and organic matrix composites; metals and metal matrix composites; electronics, electro-optics andphotonics; and environmental protection and special function materials.

Your test data, failure reports, operational history, and other data can help a colleague in the selection and reliable application of mate-rials in these areas. Please make it available to others through the AMPTIAC Library.

To make a contribution, contact Dave Rose, AMPTIAC, 201 Mill St., Rome, NY 13440-6916.

Tel: (315) 339-7023. Fax: (315) 339-7107. E-mail: drose@iitri.org.

11The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3

Oxidation and Corrosion of Intermetallic Alloys (1996)Provides an overview of intermetallic processing, structural andmechanical properties and applications; covers the behavior andendurance of intermetallics at high temperature and under oxidizingconditions; describes corrosion and oxidation phenomena at intermedi-ate temperatures; focuses on one of the “Achilles heels” of many inter-metallics, “pesting”, and corrosion and corrosion embrittlement that canoccur at ambient temperatures; and covers ambient temperature aque-ous corrosion and corrosion sensitive embrittlement properties. (416pages)

Order Code: AMPT-1 Price: $136 U.S., $204 Non-U.S.

Properties of Intermetallic Alloys, Volume I, Aluminides (1994)This volume contains evaluated and analyzed data on the thermophysi-cal and mechanical properties of cobalt, iron, nickel, ruthenium, scan-dium, titanium, and zirconium aluminides. (601 pages)

Order Code: AMP267 Price: $400 U.S., $600 Non-U.S.

Properties of Intermetallic Alloys, Volume II, Silicides (1994)This volume contains evaluated and analyzed data on the thermophysi-cal and mechanical properties of silicides of cobalt, iron, molybdenum,niobium, nickel, rhenium, tantalum, titanium and zirconium. (570pages)

Order Code: AMP268 Price: $150 U.S., $225 Non-U.S.

NASP Bibliographic Database (1998)This searchable database contains bibliographic records for 596 techni-cal reports written by contractors and government personnel supportingthe National Aerospace Plane (NASP) program. These reports addressvarious materials development efforts and technologies including hightemperature intermetallics, ceramic matrix composites, and carbon-car-bon. Also included are references to oxidation-resistant coatings forthese high temperature materials. Access to the database is Windows-based and user friendly.

Order Code: AMPT-9 Price: $200 U.S., $300 Non-U.S.

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• Ultrasonics • Eddy Current • Magnetic Particle • Penetrants • Radiography • Acoustic Emission

• Visual Inspection • Thermography

Accomplishment: An informal partnership has been estab-lished to promote the use of carbon-carbon on spacecraft,called the Carbon - Carbon Spacecraft RadiatorPartnership (CSRP). CSRP membership includes researchengineers and scientists at the Air Force ResearchLaboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate andSpace Vehicles Directorate, the Naval Surface WarfareCenter’s Carderock Division, NASA’s Langley ResearchCenter, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and privateindustry (TRW, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, LockheedMartin Missiles & Space, Lockheed Martin Vought,Amoco Polymers, Materials Research & Design, and BFGoodrich). The CSRP has designed and fabricated a rev-olutionary radiator panel that could significantly reducethermal control costs associated with satellites and possiblyextend their operational lives. Their new carbon-carbonpanel will be integrated on the “Earth Orbiter 1” space-craft to be launched in December, 1999. The panel wasbuilt to demonstrate that carbon-carbon can be a cost-efficient choice for radiators, and the panel will be in-strumented for on-orbit data collection. If successful, thenew panel may dramatically change how radiators are constructed for future spacecraft and could lead to otherimportant cost-reduction applications in space and privateindustry.

BackgroundSatellites in orbit around the Earth must dissipate tremen-dous amounts of waste heat from absorbed solar radiationand internal heat sources. The primary way to dispersethermal energy is through a series of special radiator pan-els affixed to the outside of the spacecraft. The currentEarth Orbiter 1 spacecraft program uses passive radiatorsconsisting of honeycomb core with aluminum facesheetsto cool the spacecraft. These panels perform well butresearchers would like to enhance the thermal manage-ment capability even further by reducing the costs andweight and possibly extending the operational life of thespacecraft. The CSRP has replaced one of the satellite’shoneycomb aluminum radiator panels, measuring about28 by 29 inches, with an experimental C-C panel. Thenew C-C panel will be used in an area where high thermalconductivity is needed to meet the thermal requirements.Flight and spare panels were built, and both were subject-ed to flight qualification testing. Carbon-carbon is a veryspecial class of composite materials in which both the rein-forcing fibers and matrix materials are made of pure car-bon. The use of high conductivity fibers in C-C fabrica-tion yields composite materials that have high stiffness andhigh thermal conductivity and, since C-C density is con-siderably lower than that of aluminum, significant weightsavings can be realized by replacing aluminum panels withsuch panels. C-C also has an advantage over other highconductivity composite materials in that the thermal con-ductivity through the thickness is considerably higher.The trend for future satellites is towards higher power

density in combination with areduction in spacecraft size andweight. Since C-C materials alsohave a markedly higher specificthermal efficiency than alu-minum, they offer improved per-formance for lower volume andmass. They will enable morecompact packaging of electronicdevices because of their ability toeffectively dissipate heat fromhigh power density electronics. Studies have shown thatentire heat pipe panels may be replaced by high conduc-tivity C-C for some applications, thus reducing systemcomplexity as well as integration and testing costs. Also,since carbon-carbon is a structural material, it serves a dualpurpose as both a structural and thermal managementmaterial that will eventually eliminate the requirement forthermal doubler plates, which typically add substantialmass to a spacecraft. Finally, because C-C is a composite,its structural and thermal properties are tailorable, thusadding capability and flexibility to spacecraft designs. Thenew C-C radiator panel is one of eight technologies thatwill be demonstrated on the Earth Orbiter 1 satellite, to belaunched under NASA’s “New Millennium Program.”

PayoffThe carbon-carbon radiator panel conducts thermal ener-gy more efficiently than other materials currently beingused to dissipate thermal energy on satellites. The use ofhigh conductivity fibers in C-C fabrication yields materi-als that have high stiffness and high thermal conductivity,and since the density of C-C panels is considerably lowerthan aluminum panels typically used on satellites, signifi-cant weight savings can be realized. C-C also has an advan-tage over other high conductivity composites materials inthat the thermal conductivity through the thickness of thematerial is significantly higher. C-C also has markedlyhigher specific thermal efficiency than aluminum andoffers improved performance for lower volume and mass.

For additional information, please contact …

Elizabeth Shinn Dr. Howard MaahsAFRL/MLBC NASA LaRC(937) 255-9062 (757)864-3498 n

Carbon-Carbon Radiator Panel Improves Thermal Control on Satellites

Representatives from the CSRP with one of the C-C panels. From left to right:

Bradford Parker (NASA), Suraj Rawal (Lockheed), Joe Wright (Lockheed), Dan Butler (NASA), Eric Becker (AFRL), Brian Sullivan (MR&D), Wallace Vaughn (NASA), Elizabeth Shinn (AFRL), Howard Maahs (NASA), Al Bertram (NSWC) and Steve Benner (NASA).

Not present: Ed Silverman (TRW), Jim Findley and Andy Klavins (LM), Chris Sprague (Amoco), Wei Shih (BF Goodrich), Waylon Gammill, Don Gluck and Charlotte Gerhart (AFRL)

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 312

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3 13

Recent Materials R&D Awards

body 5,755,272 Method for producing metal matrix composites using electromagnetic body forces 5,752,156 Stable fiber interfaces for beryllium matrix composites

Contract Title Contract Number Contracting Agency Contractor Contract Amount:

Composite Repair F33615-97-C-3219 R&D Contracting McDonnel Douglas $5,902,310.00

Aircraft Structures Directorate Corporation, A WPAFB Wholly-Owned

Subsidiary of the Boeing Company

Proposal for the N00014-98-C-0318 Office of Naval Research Cambridge $ 6,044,533.00Research of Design and Hydrodynamics Inc.Diagnostic Tools for Manufacturing of Advanced Nanoscale Layered Materials

Thermal and Mechanical N00178-98-C-1001 Dahlgren Division, Naval Southern Research $6,274,453.00

Testing of Materials Surface Warfare Center Institute

Laser Hardened F33615-97-D-5405 R&D Contracting Technical Management $10,448,000.00

Materials Directorate Concepts, Inc.Advanced Studies WPAFB(LHMAS)

Sensor Technology F33615-98-C-1231 R&D Contracting Veda Inc. $7,000,000.00

Integration Laboratory DirectorateWPAFB

Scientific Research and N00167-98-D-0003 Naval Surface Warfare Engineering $22,667,110.00

AMPTIAC Mailing List Updates WantedThe AMPTIAC Newsletter is currently mailed to about 20,000 addresses. It is our pol-icy to provide a free subscription to anyone who has a use for it, and to refrain fromsending copies to anyone who does not want or cannot use the publication. To keep ourmailing list current, we need the help of our readers. If any of the following situationsapply to you, please let us hear from you:

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The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 314

Mark Your Calendar

Photonics East and Electronic ImagingInternational Exhibition Nov 1 - Nov 6, 1998 Boston, MA SPIEP.O. Box 10 Bellingham, WA 98227-0010Phone: (360) 676-3290 Fax: (360) 647-1445 Email: spie@spie.org Web Site: http://www.spie.org

ASTM Committee D-30 on Composite Materials Nov 2 - Nov 4, 1998 Norfolk, VA ASTM100 Barr Harbor West Conshohocken, PA 19428 Phone: (610) 832-9677 Fax: (610) 832-9667 Web Site: http://www.astm.org

ASTM Committee E-49 onComputerization of Material and ChemicalProperty Data Nov 2 - Nov 4, 1998 Norfolk, VA ASTM100 Barr Harbor Drive West Conshohocken, PA19428-2959Phone: 610-832-9585 Fax: 610-832-9555

AVS 45th Intl. Symp. on Vacuum, Thin Films,Surfaces/Interfaces, & Processing Nov 2 - Nov 6, 1998 Baltimore, MD American Vacuum Society120 Wall Street, 32nd Floor New York, NY 10005-3993Phone: (212) 248-0200 Fax: (212) 248-0245 Web Site: http://www.vacuum.org

Advanced Turbine Systems Annual ProgramReview (ATS)Nov 2 - Nov 4, 1998 Washington, DC Conference Management AssociatesPhone: (703) 754-0066

IMAPS 1998 Conference Nov 2 - Nov 4, 1998 San Diego, CA Intl. Microelectronics Packaging Society

1850 Centennial Park Dr. Reston, VA 20191-1517Phone: (703) 758-1060 Fax: (703) 7358-1066 Email: IMAPS@aol.com

Symposium on Fatigue Crack Growth Thresholds,Endurance Limits & Design Nov 4 - Nov 5, 1998 Norfolk, VA NASA Langley Res. Ctr.Norfolk, VA Phone: (757) 864-3487 Fax: (757) 864-8911 Email: j.c.newman.jr@larc.nasa.gov

AIChE Annual Meeting Nov 15 - Nov 20, 1998 Miami Beach, FL AIChemE345 Service Cnt. New York, NY 10017-2395Phone: (800) 242-4363 Email: xpress@aiche.org Web Site: http://www.aiche.org

IEST Fall ConferenceNov 15 - Nov 19, 1998 Chicago, IL Inst. of Environmental Sciences &Technology940 East Northwest Highway Mount Prospect, IL 60056 Phone: (847) 255-1561 Fax: (847) 255-1699 Email: iest@iest.org Web Site: http://www.iest.org

Defense Manufacturing Conference '98 Nov 30 - Dec 3, 1998 New Orleans, LA Universal Technology Corporation1270 North Fairfield Rd Dayton, OH 45432-2600Phone: 937-426-2808 Fax: 937-426-8755 Web Site:http://http://mantech.iitri.com/dmc98/index.html

MRS Fall Meeting Nov 30 - Dec 4, 1998 Boston, MA Materials Research SocietyPittsburgh, PA Phone: (412) 367-3003

Fax: (412) 367-4373 Email: info@mrs.org

1998 USAF Aircraft Structural Integrity ProgramConferenceDec 1 - Dec 3, 1998 San Antonio, TX Universal Technology Corporation (UTC)Phone: (937) 426-2808 Fax: (937) 426-8755 Web Site: http://www.asipcon.com

37th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting andExhibitJan 11 - Jan 14, 1999 Reno, NV American Inst. of Aeronautics&Astronautics1801 Alexander Bell Drive Reston, VA 20191 Phone: (800) 639-2422 Web Site: http://www.aiaa.org

23rd Annual Conference on Composites,Materials and Structures U.S. ONLY / ITARRESTRICTED SESSIONS.Jan 25 - Jan 29, 1999 Cocoa Beach, FL Phone: (352) 392-3163 Fax: (352) 846-2033 Email: dfolz@mail.mse.ufl.edu

Engineering Ceramics Division Conference &Expo on Composites, Advanced Matls &Structures Jan 25 - Jan 29, 1999 Cocoa Beach, FL American Ceramic SocietyP.O. Box 6136 Westerville, OH 43086-6136Phone: (614) 794-5890 Fax: (614) 899-6109 Email: customersrvc@acers.org Web Site: http://www.acers.org

TMS Annual Meeting & Exposition Feb 28 - Mar 4, 1999 San Diego, CA Phone: 847-491-3687 Fax: 847-491-7820 Email: gautam@casbah.acns.nwu.eduWeb Site: http://www.tms.org/cms

Note: Many more Calendar of Events listingsmay be seen on the AMPTIAC web site athttp://amptiac.iitri.org/cgi-amptiac/caltopic n

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3 15

AMPTIAC DirectoryGovernment Personnel IITRI Personnel

TECHNICAL MANAGER/COTRDr. Lewis E. Sloter IIOffice of the Director Defense Research and Engineering(Platform and Materials Technology) The Pentagon, Room 3D1089Washington, DC 20301-3080(703) 695-0005, Fax: (703) 695-4885E-mail: sloterle@acq.osd.mil

ASSOCIATE COTRSCERAMICS, CERAMIC COMPOSITESDr. S. Carlos SandayNaval Research Laboratory4555 Overlook Ave., S.W. Code 6303Washington, DC 20375-5343(202) 767-2264, Fax: (202) 404-8009E-mail: sanday@anvil.nrl.navy.mil

ORGANIC STRUCTURES & ORGANICMATRIX COMPOSITESRoger GriswoldAFRL/MLBC2941 P Street, STE 1Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7750(937) 255-9070, Fax: (937) 255-9019E-mail: grisword@ml.wpafb.af.mil

METALS, METAL MATRIX COMPOSITESDr. Joe WellsArmy Research LaboratoryWeapons & Materials Research DirectorateAMSRL-WM-MC (@CNR Site)APG, MD 21005-5069(410) 306-0752, Fax: (410) 306-0736E-mail: jwells@arl.mil

ELECTRONICS, ELECTRO-OPTICS,PHOTONICSRobert L. DenisonAFRL/MLPO3005 P Street, STE 6Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7707(937) 255-4474 x3250 Fax: (937) 255-4913E-mail: denisorl@ml.wpafb.af.mil

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION & SPECIALFUNCTION MATERIALSDr. James MurdayNaval Research Laboratory4555 Overlook Ave., S.W. Code 6100Washington, DC 20375-5320(202 767-3026Fax: (202) 404-7139E-mail: murday@ccf.nrl.navy.mil

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DIRECTOR, AMPTIACDavid Rose201 Mill StreetRome, NY 13440-6916(315) 339-7023 Fax: (315) 339-7107 E-mail: drose@.iitri.org

TECHNICAL DIRECTORSMETALS, METAL MATRIXCOMPOSITESDr. A. K. Kuruvilla7501 South Memorial ParkwaySuite 104Huntsville, AL 35802(256) 880-0884, x238 Fax: (256) 880-0886E-mail: akuruvilla@iitri.org

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ORGANIC STRUCTURAL MATERIALS& ORGANIC MATRIX COMPOSITESJeffrey Guthrie201 Mill StreetRome, NY 13440-6916(315) 339-7058 Fax: (315) 339-7107E-mail: jguthrie@.iitri.org

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To contact AMPTIAC

Inside this Issue…

Progress and Promise:AIMMC

Spotlight on Technology:Materials Database

Carbon-Carbon RadiatorPanel Improves ThermalControl on Satellites

And more …

IIT Re s e a r ch In s t i t u t e /A MPT I AC

201 Mi l l St r e e t

Ro m e , NY 13440 - 6916

AMPTIAC is a DoD Information Analysis Center Sponsored by the Defense Technical Information Center and Operated by IIT Research Institute

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AMPTIAC, 201 Mill Street, Rome NY 13440-6916Attn.: Barbara Severin

Queries may be made by telephone to (315) 339-7021, fax to (315) 339-7107, or e-mail toamptiac@iitri.org. Inquires can also be made from the AMPTIAC website at http://amptiac.iitri.org.All ads are subject to AMPTIAC publication policies, which are available on request and are posted on the AMPTIAC website.

The AMPTIAC Newsletter has a world-wide distribution of over 20,000 copies. Since copies are shared,estimated total readership is over 60,000. n

Cost Per Insertion ($)Size One Issue Two Issues Three Issues Four IssuesFull page 1000 970 940 9152/3 page Horizontal 900 870 840 8151/2 page Vertical 800 725 650 6001/2 page Horizontal 800 725 650 6001/3 page Horizontal 700 660 620 5901/4 page Vertical 600 550 500 450Business Card 350 300 250 2002 Line Bottom Strip 200 200 200 200

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AMPTIACA D VA N C E D M AT E R I A L S A N D P R O C E S S E S T E C H N O L O G Y

Development Services for CenterTechnology Center, An

Technology Assessment, O p e r a t i n gSegment of

Innovative Engineering Analysis & Development, and Technology,

Inc.Prototype System Development for Advanced Signature Reduction Projects

The AMPTIAC Newsletter, Volume 2, Number 3 17