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Three-dimensional quartz phenolic (3DQP) is a phenolic-based material composed of a
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
cloth material impregnated with a phenolic
resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...
and hot-pressed. When cured, 3DQP can be
machined Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...
in the same way as metals and is tough and fire-resistant. 3DQP is used for the manufacture of
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
re-entry vehicles (RV). The quartz material ' hardens' the RV protecting the nuclear warhead against high-energy
neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...
s emitted by exo-atmospheric
Anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to Missile defense, destroy in-flight ballistic missiles. They achieve this explosively (chemical or nuclear), or via hit-to-kill Kinetic projectile, kinetic vehicles, which ma ...
(ABM) bursts before re-entry. 3DQP was first used on the British
Chevaline Chevaline () was a system to improve the penetrability of the warheads used by the UK Polaris programme, British Polaris nuclear weapons system. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet Union, Soviet A-35 anti-ballistic missile system, anti-b ...
improved front end (IFE) for the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
's
UGM-27 Polaris The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missi ...
system that was in service from 1982 to 1996, when it was replaced by Trident D5.


Manufacture

A licence to manufacture 3DQP in the US was acquired from the British Government and production was undertaken by
AVCO Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron, which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...
, one of the two suppliers of US RVs, the other being
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
. First production examples of the Chevaline ReBs were manufactured by AVCO, now part of
Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Kautex, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft and Cessna b ...
. Subsequently, production was undertaken in the UK at the Royal Ordnance Factory Burghfield using quartz material purchased from France. Documents declassified in 2013 describe in some detail the process whereby a quartz two-dimensional cloth is hand woven from quartz threads with conventional wefts and warps within a stainless steel matrix before being impregnated under pressure with a phenolic resin. A third dimension was then woven through the cavities created by removal of the stainless steel matrix before these threads were impregnated with phenolic resin inside an autoclave pressurised at up to 2000 psi. The resulting material was then lathe-turned to the ReB profile, internally and externally. The supply by AVCO of test samples of 3DQP to France without UK permission caused friction between the British Government and AVCO, and action in the US courts by the British government.Public Record Office, London. TNA DEFE 24/896


See also

*
Chevaline Chevaline () was a system to improve the penetrability of the warheads used by the UK Polaris programme, British Polaris nuclear weapons system. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet Union, Soviet A-35 anti-ballistic missile system, anti-b ...
*
Fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
*
Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom In 1952, the United Kingdom became the third country (after the Nuclear weapons of the United States, United States and the Soviet atomic bomb project, Soviet Union) to develop and test nuclear weapons, and is one of the List of states with nu ...
*
UGM-27 Polaris The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missi ...
* *
Atmospheric reentry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entry ...


Footnotes


References

* Various declassified files at the
Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
, Kew. * Numerous authors and papers published as Proceedings of a
Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...
Symposium held Oct 2004. Published as .


External links


Textron website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513063020/http://www.textron.com/textron_businesses/index.jsp , date=13 May 2008
nuclear-weapons.info – a site dedicated to declassified UK nuclear weapons

Dr Richard Moore: A Guide to British Nuclear History, originally published by the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies – University of Southampton.
Polaris (UK nuclear programme) Submarine-launched ballistic missiles of the Cold War Space technology Aerospace engineering Materials 1982 introductions