A Fiber Coupled Multi-Purpose Corrosion Control System

ABSTRACT:Laser & Plasma Technologies (LPT) is proposing to continue the Phase I development effort of a fiber-coupled multipurpose corrosion control system to advance the conventional corrosion detection and improve maintenance. Corrosion can lead to a fast and fatal failure in engineering structures of aircraft and so early corrosion detection and repair provides an opportunity for extending the life-cycle and increasing availability of aging aircraft. Even in the case of newer aircraft, corrosion can be a significant problem due to the harsh operational environments encountered.The overall objective of the program is to develop a fiber-coupled multipurpose corrosion control system for hard to reach areas.In the phase I of this program, the feasibility of the proposed technology was successfully demonstrated though experimental testing in which all the objectives of Phase I were completely met.The Phase II development efforts will include the optimization of the system design thereby allowing implementation of a prototype system for alpha testing.BENEFIT:The corrosion control system developed in this project would find direct application to military and commercial aircraft.The corrosion of metallic structures is an industry- and government-wide maintenance problem that has been rapidly spreading due to the increased amount of infrastructure and military assets that are aging.The annual cost of corrosion in aircraft alone is 2.2 billion dollars.Applications outside of aircraft can be found in a range of areas, such as reactors, ships, pipe lines, bridges, and storage tanks affected by corrosion.Efficient and cost effective detection and repair of corrosion will extend the life-cycle of assets while reducing downtime and losses due to corrosion-related failures.