Q: Is there a difference between Hotblox and Hotblox Armor? A: Yes, Hotblox is ATC's line of thermal protection materials, structural ceramics, coatings and polymers, while Hotblox Armor is ATC's line of ballistic armor systems. Q: What advantages do Hotblox and Hotblox Armor have over other similar materials? A: Hotblox has a complete line of low cost moldable TPS materials. While there are too many materials and advantages to list here, see the Product section of this website for a complete list of materials and properties. As an example, Hotblox B424 has up to 5 times the strength of similar materials such as AEBT-16 while maintaining similar thermal properties. In addition, Hotblox B424 is injection and compression moldable so parts can be made in a fast and cost efficient manner. Hotblox Armor has the advantage of superior stopping power with minimal ballistic fabric. This allows Hotblox armor to be sold for a lower cost than competitors. In addition, Hotblox Armor has very good dielectric properties for applications such as armored radomes. Q: What applications is HotBlox suited for? A: Hotblox is suited for many diverse high temperature thermal protection applications, high temperature radomes, high temperature antenna parts and high temperature structural applications. Q: What applications is ATC currently involved with? A: ATC is currently involved in high temperature materials and ballistic armor. Our main area of focus is on synergistic ceramic and polymer solutions for today’s extreme environments. Q: Where are you located? A: The ATC headquarters is located at 12520 Triskett Rd. in Cleveland, Ohio. Q: What type of real world testing has been done on Hotblox? A: Hotblox has been tested in the laser hardened materials evaluation laboratory (LHMEL) and the NASA Langley mach 7 wind tunnel. In addition, several Hotblox materials will be included in MISSE 6. Q: What testing has been done on Hotblox Armor? A: Hotblox Armor has been tested extensively in ballistic facilities with many different threat levels. Q: I have a unique thermal protection requirement. The application calls for good thermal insulation properties, but only allows for 1 mm of insulation thicknes. In addition, there can not be any outgassing, so ablatives are out of the question. Do you have a material for my application? A: ATC has several novel TPS materials that involve solid state phase transformations to keep temperatures down. These materials are similar to ablatives, but without the ablation products. The chemistry of these can be tailored to meet a specific application. Please contact us with the details of your application and we can work on an optimized solution. Q: Where did the name Hotblox come from? A: Chuck