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ADVANCED MATERIALS FOR DEFENCE & AEROSPACE

Introduction

Advanced Materials for Defence & Aerospace 2022 is designed as an online forum, where thought leaders and key policy-makers across the armed forces, government agencies and private organizations including R&D and academic institutions can come together for actionable discussions and debate.

Advanced materials are used in the main structure of aircraft, helicopters and spacecraft as well as and aeroengines due to their special properties in terms of their performance and applications. These include special metal alloys of aluminum, titanium, magnesium, steel, and superalloys, as well as polymers, composites and wood.

The event will focus on special materials for aerospace, shipbuilding, ballistic protection, missiles & space, weapons systems & ammunition, combat vehicles and electronics & sensors.  In addition, there will be discussions on  Smart Materials, Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing for defence & aerospace applications.

Aim

This event will create a synergetic collaboration between all stake holders - Armed Forces, R&D, Industry and Academia to identify and develop a family of affordable, competitive, reliable and high-performance materials and process technologies which are relevant for defence and aerospace applications.

Disruption in Global Supplies

The disruption of supply chains across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for self-reliance, especially in strategic sectors and indigenous development and manufacturing of materials (including special alloys).

For domestic manufacturers, the opportunities in the defence manufacturing sector have grown over the last few years. Achieving indigenisation of some critical spares and platforms has been one of the main cogs in this growth. But, despite achieving self-reliance in spares and platforms manufacturing, India still has a large import bill of raw materials.

As per recent estimates, India imports approximately Rs 14,000 crore ($2 billion) worth of critical materials annually. Domestic production of these materials can reduce the import bill as well as decouple strategic military assets from geo-political uncertainties.

Aerospace Materials

Constant pressure for greater fuel efficiency is forcing aerospace manufacturers to find ways to incorporate new and existing materials that had once been considered impractical to machine.

Forty years ago, aluminum dominated the aerospace industry. Other new materials such as composites and alloys were also used, including titanium, graphite, and fiberglass, but only in very small quantities. Times have changed. Most of the non-critical structural material now consist of even lighter-weight carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) and honeycomb materials. For engine parts and critical components, there is a push for lower weight and higher temperature resistance for better fuel efficiency.

Aeroengines ultimately determine fuel efficiency. The challenge is to find materials that will withstand temperatures as high as 3,800°F (2,100°C). The melting point of current super alloys is around 3,360°F (1,850°C).

To meet these temperature demands, heat-resistant super alloys (HRSAs), including titanium alloys, nickel alloys, and some nonmetal composite materials such as ceramics, are now being brought into the material equation. These materials are difficult to machine. There is also a high process risk in machining aerospace parts.

Weapons Systems

Special steel grade is used for artillery gun barrel forging, known for exceptional combination of tensile strength, ductility and toughness. Breech blocks are heavy wall thickness components that require the right steel grade choice to guarantee homogenous mechanical properties throughout the component

Metal powders are used for additive manufacturing and 3D-printing of manufactured parts for armoured vehicles and artillery applications.

Missiles

Maraging or special stainless steel grades (super-austenitic), aluminum or titanium alloys are used for missile components such as casings and parts. These are supplied as tubes, fForged and closed-die forgings, rolled sheets and bars.

Critical missile components require resistance to corrosion, ductility at negative temperature, excellent weldability and mechanical properties, and extra low or high temperature resistance.

The wide operational temperature range, from cryogenic temperatures to 1100 K, enables this steel to outperform aluminium and carbon fibre structures.

Composites

Composite materials reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency while being easy to handle, design, shape, and repair. They can be used for wing and fuselage skins, engines and landing gear. Pre-formed one piece composite components - lightweight and strong - reduce the number of heavy fasteners and joints.

Ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs), which are emerging in practical use after decades of testing, offer low density/weight, high hardness and, most importantly, superior thermal and chemical resistance.

Smart Materials

Smart materials, also known as intelligent or responsive materials, are used in a variety of applications such as sensors, transducers, artificial muscles and electrically activated polymers (EAP). 

Additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing innovations are being utilized to increase the current level of capability and reduce the cost of parts, in order to deliver greater operational flexibility and further enhance the defence industrial base. Utilizing additive manufacturing technologies to improve military readiness

3D Printing

3D printing and its integration of 3D printing onto military structures and weapons systems can bolster materiel readiness. 3D printing materials and processes give military commands and defence agencies the opportunity to modernize their supply chains at scale, increase the size, weight and power (SWAP) of their platforms/weapons systems and enable efficient replacement of parts in a shorter time frame.

Indian Scenario

India continues to develop metallic and composite materials with ever-increasing performance, but there are only a few serious players. New companies are accelerating this evolution of new materials, advancements in machining and cutting technology give manufacturers unprecedented access to materials previously deemed impractical or too difficult to machine. New material adoption is happening exceptionally quickly in aerospace.

Future Scope

Aluminum alloys still lead in aerospace materials but their share in the aerospace materials is expected to decline in future owing to the increasing use of composite materials.

Some advanced materials are already well known as groups like polymers, metal alloys, ceramics, semiconductors, composites and biomaterials. Even more impressive product groups like carbon nano materials, activated carbon, titanium and others are expected in the future. Other areas of new materials research include spintronics, amphiphilic materials, superconductors and advanced engineering polymers.

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