Corrosion Protection of High-Value Test&Evaluation Assets

San Diego Composites (SDC), Inc. is teamed with the University of Maine and Raytheon Missile Systems to provide the solution for corrosion of Missile Defense Agency assets in harsh marine environments: innovative design and application of high performing composite components. It is well known that composite materials are inherently corrosion resistant and possess superior properties that can be employed to replace structural metals in highly corrosive, harsh marine environments. The critical technological need in order to replace corroded steel structural components with composite components is innovative composite-metal joints. In this Phase I STTR program, the SDC team will leverage its expertise in composites for marine environments, metal-composite joining, environmental durability testing of composites, and composite integration into missile defense platforms to develop and test innovative composite-metal joining technologies that prevent galvanic corrosion of fasteners and control hygrothermal expansion at the joint interfaces. Composite material properties will be tailored to not only handle the structural loads, in both bonded and fastened joints, but also to efficiently transfer the load from the joint interface to the superior properties of the composite component. The additional details provided in this proposal exemplify the SDC team"s qualifications to provide a non-corrosive composite solution to structural metals. Approved for Public Release 14-MDA-7979 (16 September14).