Polymer-Based Glass-Like Coating Material System for Multi-Layered Protective Film

State-of-the-art aircraft/helicopter transparency materials lack the mechanical strength to withstand the environmental effects of blowing sand and dust particles, and thus degrade pilots' ability to see through. Scratched and damaged transparencies must be replaced, and this is both expensive and time consuming. The lifespan of the transparencies can be significantly increased by applying multilayered protective film, each layer of which can be peeled off when damaged, leaving a new clear protective film. To address this need Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a novel optically clear multilayer protective window film based on a unique glasslike polymer coating material, to be produced by a unique modification of the solgel process, combining mechanical durability with chemical resistance. The proposed material system can be coated on either flat or curved window substrates, with the multilayer coating films bonded together by an adhesive system such as vinyl acetate. In Phase I, POC will develop a polymer-based glass-like UV curable solgel protective coating, and laminate it into a multilayered protective film to demonstrate its unique properties. Phase II will scale up and optimize the window film material coating process to produce multilayered protective film to be field tested and demonstrate cost-effective manufacturability.