Improved Heat Blanket Technology for Aircraft Composite Bonding Operations

Triton Systems proposes to develop, demonstrate, and transition a novel, flexible heater blanket capable of heating as far up to the edge as possible without hot spots or dead spots, regardless of the presence of heat sinks. The proposed heater blanket is intended to function at I-level repair facilities to improve the quality and reliability of heater blanket aircraft repairs.  The focus of the Phase II effort is to further refine and build on the capabilities of the heater blanket demonstrated in the Phase I. This effort includes the development of additional blankets, of varying sizes, to evaluate the manufacturability, the scalability, and capability of the blankets to meet Navy requirements. Key areas identified from the Phase I are to focus on the design’s conformability, edge heating, temperature uniformity, high temperature performance, and ability to address localized heat sinks. Triton plans to continue performing lab scale testing across a range of materials, cure profiles, and geometry with input directly from the Navy repair depots. Furthermore, the proposed technology is planned to be evaluated through a series of repair processes to mimic the most demanding applications at Navy depot repair facilities. The depot repair will conclude concludes with the evaluation of a high-temperature hot-bonded repair of a Navy radome window.