Advanced Sacrificial Dense Metallic Coatings for Aircraft Components

Majority of Aircraft Components (AC) is protected from corrosion by application of galvanic Cadmium (Cd). In some instances, mostly for the non-line-of-site configurations, Cd is replaced by Aluminum (Al) which is applied by Ion Vapor Deposition (IVD). The porosity and columnar structure of the currently utilized IVD coatings require additional treatment of AC that increases the cost to produce the finished part. The objective of this work is to continue investigate and develop dense corrosion resistant coatings and systems to improve performance of AC via application of singularly unique EPVD™ technology. In Phase I, feasibility of “surface engineering” of desired corrosion resistant material structures was investigated. EPVD™ has proven its capability to produce a multitude of coatings unavailable in applications by any other coating systems; it demonstrated the advantage of zero environmental compliance burdens to the process. Phase II will pursue advanced development of the prototype coatings and coating systems applicable to selected AC configurations. The coating systems designs will be optimized and integrated into a prototype to investigate and demonstrate consistent reproducibility of corrosion resistant coatings applicable to both line-of-site and non-line-of-site component configurations.