Clear ceramic shows military/commercial capabilities

The same material that one day may be used to protect soldiers in combat also will help protect consumers from being charged the wrong price at the grocery store. How's that for versatility?

Investigators at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) have been testing a new, clear ceramic by shooting bullets at the surface until it shatters. It turns out the Aluminum Oxynitride, or ALON, material can take more than twice as many hits as glass at a much lighter, thinner weight. That's important to the military, which hopes to use it as a transparent armor in ground and air vehicles. The material is also being considered for use in such practical applications as the covering for bar code scanners at the supermarket.

The type of testing being done at UDRI may not be necessary to scan a gallon of milk, but it's helping get the material to market in the civilian world at a faster pace.

“What we're doing here may not be directly related to more practical uses,” said Ron Hoffman, the lead investigator testing the material at UDRI. “However, the 'lessons learned' regarding size, polishing and material purity demonstrate how else the clear ceramic can be used.”

For example, the material is being looked at for everything from its safety capabilities to its decorative properties. There have been inquiries about using it in lower-level windows of office buildings, as well as the windows in vehicles transporting delegates, politicians and even movie stars. There's talk about it replacing the glass in museum display cases, watch faces and dishware - basically any surface that needs to resist scuff, scratches and “wear & tear.” Scratch-resistant grocery store scanners, for example, improve the effectiveness and accuracy of infrared readers.

“People have even inquired about using it for the handles of beauty salon scissors because of its decorative properties,” Hoffman said. “That blew my mind.”

But its most important use will be with the military. UDRI is working with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is leading the development effort in collaboration with Surmet Corp., a Massachusetts company that makes the material. According to Lt. Joseph La Monica, the Army is looking at using ALON for windows in ground vehicles, such as Humvees, and the Air Force is exploring its use for “in-flight protective transparencies, for low, slow-flying aircraft, which are any of the C-130 variations, the C-17, the A-10 and any of the helicopters.”

Because the ceramic material, as armor, is significantly lighter and thinner than traditional multilayer glass transparencies, the hope is that it will help stop higher-level threats.

“The higher the threat, the more savings you're going to get,” La Monica said. “Because with glass, to get the protection against higher threats, you have to keep building layers upon layers of glass, but with ALON, the material only needs to be increased a few millimeters.”

Surmet Corp., the manufacturer of the material, is focusing on the product's military application, but believes the results of UDRI's testing give it greater marketability.

“We hope there will be more commercial applications,” said Lee Goldman, a materials scientist at Surmet. “There will be a certain panache to it because people will want bullet-proof watch crystals and other products with protective qualities.”

In the meantime, UDRI, the Air Force and Surmet hope the material will be on the battlefield in six months to a year. Then, it's just a matter of time before ALON makes it to a supermarket or beauty salon near you.

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