Proposed is research on the processing of powder materials by high-pressure shock compression. Exothermic chemical reactions to aid sintering are induced in a powder mixture by shock wave pulses passing through the mixture. This process is applied to several metallic systems including those where efforts on powder consolidation have proven to be difficult. Intermetallic alloys such as titanium aluminide and nickel- aluminide are explored to determine the effects of this type of processing on their properties. The feasibility of scaling up these shock-induced reactions for engineering applications is part of the program. The ultimate aim is to model the consolidation process, coupled with the synthesis by chemical reactions, to gain predictive capabilities. The research is performed at New Mexico Tech. (high-pressure impact, scale-up), Los Alamos (modeling), Sandia (shock-wave facilities, modeling), and California Institute of Technology (shock-consolidation theory). This is an excellent area of research, where the U.S. is lagging international competition. The research has potentially high pay-off with the capability to produce new materials. Modeling of the process variables is needed to permit the scaling up of the process to larger sizes and more complex shapes.
