Low Cost, Low Weight, Self-Sealing Fuel Tank Technology Development

The main objective will be to optimize a self-sealing fuel tank coating that is low cost, rugged, lightweight that were developed and tested during the Phase I program. Phase II research will further optimize and improve the performance of a self-sealing fuel tank coating which will enable vehicle operation in hostile environments and minimize loss of fuel due to a direct/indirect hit. These self seal coatings will be readily transferable to land, mobile and amphibious military operations. In addition UDC will investigate the development of a rotational molded self sealing fuel tank. The developed self seal coatings and rotation molded self-seal tank will be compared with currently used/existing COTS/MOTS self-sealing fuel tank technologies. We will further improve bullet impact resistance, self sealability of different size holes, adhesion to substrate, fire and smoke performance, chemical resistance, flexibility, water and salt fog resistance. These coatings will be tested in accordance with the self seal fuel tank specifications (i.e., MIL-DTL-27422C and MIL-T-5578B) used by the U.S. Marine Corps. UDRI will perform the ballistic impact testing. UDC will design, develop, produce the coatings and conduct limited developmental testing. The resultant performance will be verified by an independent test facility. UDC will provide materials and application specifications for the self sealing tanks and coatings. At the end of Phase II, UDC will provide a detailed report that will include all work performed, resultant data, specifications and a Phase III production plan.