Development of Materials for Load bearing Sonar Windows

Sonar systems are critical Naval assets that require well-defined performance and lifetime characteristics. These systems are expected to last 15-20 years yet the qualification test methods currently used do not predict the lifetime field performance. During this Phase II effort, TRI/Austin, Inc. will develop new accelerated life testing (ALT) protocols that will incorporate detailed life cycle environmental exposures. These field exposures will be modeled and compressed into an ALT test plan that will subject sonar hardware to an equivalent aging period of 15-20 years. This will be accomplished with lab exposures of only two to three months. The overall objective of the Phase II effort will be the establishment of a ALT facility specifically designed to perform ALT testing of marine hardware. This capability will be made available to the Navy for the lifetime determination of other sonar equipment. An explicit technical objective of the Phase II effort will be the development of accelerated life testing procedures designed for Twisted Bi-Cone Array (TBCA) sonar hardware.