Elmet Technologies LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: DLA231-D08

Description

When GTP discontinued the manufacture of WRe wire, it ended US-based production of a material critical in the operations of MWT/TWT equipment for defense applications.  The objective of this project is to produce a WRe wire that matches as closely as possible the wire produced by GTP while also potentially developing a process that meets or exceeds the yields achieved by GTP.  The wire produced will range in size from 0.002” to 0.045”.  Within the funding provided in the SBIR award, Elmet looks to make significant progress towards producing wire that meets the published specifications using GTP-furnished ingots.  The wire specification is detailed in the Industry Specification Review:  3% Rhenium – 97% Tungsten Wire for Electron Devices, dated October 24, 2013.   Based on Elmet’s research, interviews with GTP’s consultants, and years of experience producing fine tungsten wire to less than 0.001”, we believe that our legacy installed and operating equipment either matches exactly, is compatible and equivalent with, or in some cases more versatile relative to the equipment used by GTP for WRe wire production.   Elmet will utilize our existing knowledge of tungsten wire production to develop a full scope of experiments meant to examine and characterize each critical process step.  However, our experience informs us that even small changes in processing parameters may have a material impact on the quality or performance of the finished product and may require additional study, process and equipment modifications to achieve the desired properties.  Within the proposal, we have constructed a technical discussion and development approach based on the best information available today.  We anticipate that adjustments to this approach will be required once full information is available and we begin the development process.