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Extraordinarily rugged with a melting temperature of several thousand degrees Fahrenheit. That describes the results of research into new ceramic materials sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and recently published in the Journal Nature. A research team, led by ONR’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Stefano Curtarolo, Duke University, developed a computational method for creating new types of ceramics using transition metals – carbonitrides or borides – through a process called Disordered Enthalpy-Entropy Descriptor (DEED). The applications are endless, said Dr. Eric Wuchina, a research materials engineer who was the program officer with ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons department when Curtarolo’s research team was awarded the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI). According to Wuchina, the variety of new compositions could create potentially millions of new materials.

The proposed topic will explore and exploit the lack of underwater propulsion systems that can efficiently work across a wide variety of speeds over long distances. In particular, this effort is interested in a propulsion system able to transition between low and high speeds, to include the ability to stop and re-start at any time. Other desired characteristics will be briefed at the event. The program will pursue technologies and systems that support development and demonstration of a system that can propel an underwater vehicle in the ways listed. Further mission profile details will be provided at the Industry Day.

The Office of Naval Research's Materials for New Sensor Modalities program is interested in basic research aimed at drastic or fundamental alterations of a material’s response to stimuli.