Alloy Surfaces’ Research and Development Group is located in the
ASC Technology Center. The Group employs a large number of
professionally qualified personnel in the fields of Materials Science,
Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
R&D Capabilities
- Pilot line equipped with production scale manufacturing equipment including coating machines and high temperature furnaces.
- Integrated analytical and reaction chemistry laboratory including
TGA/DSC-FTIR, Nitrogen and Krypton porosimetry and BET measurements,
particle size analyzers, rheometers, ICP elemental analysis,
autotitrators and others.
- Mechanical laboratory with rapid prototyping capability including 3-D printer.
- Multiphysics FEA software to improve analytical capabilities and provide more robust engineering solutions.
Testing Capabilities
ASC has invested significantly to improve our infrared and visible
testing capabilities, both in the lab and the field. Test
instrumentation now includes:
- LAT testing capability
- Judson detectors for radiant intensity measurements in various infrared bands.
- Calibrated FPA thermal imager for IR intensity measurement and image characterization
- Wide FOV lens for detectors and imager
- Dynamic test capability for lab measurements in environmentally controlled conditions
- Optical table for IR lab.
- 1" & 2" diameter cavity blackbodies
- 4" diameter clear aperture reflecting collimator
- High speed camera;
- Visibility measurement capability in the photopic region;
- FTIR spectrometer fitted for both emission and absorption spectral
measurements and diffuse reflectance and ATR modes including visible,
NIR, MIR and FIR ranges.
This test capability has allowed ASC to evaluate a wide range of
material types in developing improved countermeasure payload materials
based on identified needs.
Materials Characterization Capabilities
- Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Absorption (DRFTIR, ATR) and Emission Spectroscopy
- Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS)
- Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
- Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
- DSC/IR
- Temperature Programmad Desorption-Mass Spectroscopy (TPD/ TPR/ TPO)
- Nitrogen or Krypton Porosimetry
- Particle size distribution of powders
- Rheological properties
- Optical microscopy
- Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES)
Materials Development
Alloy Surfaces’ Research & Development has as a primary objective
to mature Special Material Decoy technology to improve effectiveness
against advanced and emerging IR threats. R&D’s secondary objective
is to utilize high surface area materials technology for other DoD
applications.