Everybody's going to go home tonight and read over the material I've presented here, maybe do some research of their own, and come back with an intelligent response to this post:
Don't know what is with my computer but I can not seem to open any of the pdf files attached. But from what I can read, this all sure does come together nicely to point to some excellent opportunities for LQMT in the Military channel. Takes a long time to get a Military contract but once in, your in and they can be fairly lucrative.
Hopefully that is what all of this means and it isn't too far off!
I just noticed a mistake in this post. Robert H. Woodman is the name of the scientist that had worked with Liquidmetal. Not Robert H. Wood, one of the inventors of the arming device. Also, I think it's a possibility that General Dynamics or ATK is working on this, rather than L-3 (though that's still a possibility).
It's a slider from the ARDEC MEMS S&A device currently in development by the US Army. The following site explains what it is being developed for as well as some of the extreme environments it has to hold up against and the tests it has to go through to meet specs:
3. ARDEC S&A DEVICE 3.1 MEMS S&A The ARDEC MEMS-based mechanical Safety and Arming (S&A) Device (Figures 1& 2), is being developed by the Army, with MEMS as the enabling technology for radical miniaturization, cost reduction, and improved reliability and safety. The ARDEC S&A is being engineered for for use in 20mm to 40mm medium caliber high-explosive air-burst (HEAB) applications and is also planned for transition into 105mm and 155mm artillery fuzes, as well as other applications. Advantages of the MEMS S&A over conventional mechanical S&A technologies include: • Reduced cost • Reduced size • Improved safety • Potential “in situ” fabrication with fuze circuit • “Frangible” design for non-lethal applications • Commonality across multiple high-g applications • Reduced lead-containing components • Increased lethality (device size allows for large warhead) • Soldier Survivability (increased safety reduces fatal accidents) Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6884 68840C-3
Unlike many standard MEMS devices, the ARDEC S&A is not composed of silicon, but rather metallic materials (Figure 3). The primary materials of construction chosen were nickel and stainless steel. These materials were selected for ductility to accommodate the high g-forces to which the S&A will be exposed during gun launch. One concern resulting from material selection was material degradation/corrosion effects, even though the device will be sealed in a projectile during normal operation and storage.
From the following site, it appears that ATK is highly involved in the project, with a performance end date listed as October 30 of this year:
Objective/s: To develop components that will directly have a cost reduction or risk reduction impact on the ARDEC Micro Electro-mechanical Systems Safety and Arming Device (MEMS S&A) manufacturing project. The contractor will work closely with the ARDEC MEMS team to establish a high volume MEMS S&A assembly capability using these alternative components. The contractor will work with vendors to demonstrate prototype manufacturing processes and alternative materials suitable for integration into initial production after validation.
Performance End Date: 30-Oct-12
Previous prototypes have been made of Nickel and Steel, but because of problems with corrosion, they are looking into other materials like Liquidmetal.
Several different manufacturing processes have also been looked into, but they are still looking for other alternatives to save on cost:
Amish Desai of Tanner Research and Jan Schroers of Yale have been working on a thermoplastic forming technique for this (as well as for other applications):
Mass Fabricating S&A with Bulk Metallic Glass: Micro-Components with Nano-scale Tolerance
Abstract:
In Phase I Tanner Research has already demonstrated a state of the art technology suitable for facilitating the mass fabrication of metallic components used in high g gun-launched MEMS-based S&A devices. The emerging need for micro-scale S&A devices to complement the smart fuzing in modern munitions is jeopardized by high implementation cost of the metallic components able to survive the harsh gun-launch environment. The impact of cost reduction and/or cost avoidance on implementing critical munitions' designs actually starts with the S&A device. Tanner Research is proposing as a primary objective to further develop and refine the micro to nano scale manufacturing techniques required to establish a process for extremely high-rate, low-cost manufacture of micro-scale components needed for use in the Army's MEMS safe and arm device. We envision the Phase II program to be an opportunity to develop a batch scale forming process to mass fabricate metallic sliders and parts.
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