CFD RESEARCH CORPORATION — Department of Defense STTR Phase II: MDA16-T001

CFD RESEARCH CORPORATION — STTR Phase II award from Department of Defense.

Amount
$992,727
Agency
Department of Defense · Missile Defense Agency
Program / Phase
STTR · Phase II
Topic
MDA16-T001
Solicitation
2016.0
NAICS
Place of performance
AL
Period
2018-05-01 → 2020-04-30

Description

Fine powder thermal battery cathode materials can exhibit challenging flow properties which makes processing with automated presses difficult.Granulating these powders can substantially improve flow properties and reduce the tendency for powder segregation during handling and pressing operations.Additionally, the properties of MgO that lead to good performance in thermal battery separators are not well understood.This leads to protracted efforts to identify replacement materials when obsolescence issues arise.The purpose of this proposal is to demonstrate a technique for granulating fine particle size cathode materials to produce a homogeneous mixture and to improve flow and fill characteristics.Improved cathode flow properties will be demonstrated through flow characterization tests at the developmental level and processing on automated presses at the production level. Focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) characterization will be coupled with advanced porosimetry for candidate MgO binder materials to develop a correlation between MgO properties and separator performance to aid in material selection.Approved for Public Release | 18-MDA-9522 (23 Feb 18)