Hi Rowser, The xtclave process in novel in the fact that it...

Hi Rowser,

The xtclave process in novel in the fact that it enables high pressure isostatic bounding.

Here is an extract from the FCT goals and the way xtclave responds to it:

Title: Armor Processing (Army) Description: The Army is looking to evaluate personal body armor, small arm protective inserts (SAPI), fabricated by new isostatic and high pressure processing technique. This prototype process has had very promising results and has the potential to reduce the weight and improve the ballistic performance of personal body armor at a lower cost. The current SAPI plates are made by conventional processing techniques which use low pressure autoclave to bond ceramic tiles and high performance fiber composites together. The fiber composite materials are processed separately using hot press prior to the final bonding process. This production method cannot provide uniform high pressure throughout the entire processing and therefore, the ballistic performance of current SAPI plates is not optimized. The proposed technology has demonstrated the capability to provide absolute uniform and high pressure for the entire process and also to combine fiber composite consolidation and plate integration into a one-step process. This technology will maximize the bonding strength between fiber composite layers and between composite and the ceramic which will significantly improve the ballistic performance of SAPI plates. Uniform and high pressure processing technology will also dramatically reduce the performance variation which will provide more trade space for weight reduction. The technology developed provides a new manufacturing technique that is unique and unavailable from domestic sources.
FY 2013 Accomplishments: Flat panel polyethylene test coupons have been manufactured using varying pressure and temperature processing cycles and are being mechanically tested (bend testing) to measure elastic stiffness. The testing will identify physical differences between laminates consolidated via XTclave™ and traditional axial pressing. Samples were also imaged and mechanically tested for comparison.
FY 2014 Plans: Perform modeling and simulation, subcomponent test article production, subcomponent testing, data evaluation and report, armor prototype production, prototype testing and evaluation, write final test report and close out report.