Innovative Erosion-Resistant Coating Materials/Concepts for Leading Edges on Composite Rotor Blades

"The Navy operates its helicopters and other aircraft in dust, salt, and water-laden environments. The impact of sand and water droplets on the rotor blades at high velocities causes rotor life to drop drastically. The cost of replacing and maintainingrotor blades is a significant factor. The current solution is to use metallic abrasion strips that offer limited protection; however, the strips limit the fatigue life of composite rotors. AS&M has developed a coating that provides superior erosionprotection without reducing fatigue life. AS&M's coating is comprised of a fine dispersion of very hard particles in a resilient matrix. The coating partly absorbs the energy and reflects back the impacting particles without deformation or cratering. InPhase I, we propose to demonstrate the applicability of AS&M's coating on composite material for adhesion, uniformity, smoothness, erosion, and cavitation properties. In the Phase I option, we propose to establish a field repair kit for maintenance andextending the coating life. In Phase II, we propose to coat airfoil shapes for simulated erosion test and also to carry out a full-fledged fatigue test on a coated rotor. In Phase III, we will work with a rotor blade manufacturer and transition thetechnology to a rotary-wing platform. Helicopters, vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft, fighter jets, general aviation aircraft and helicopters, gas turbine engines and power plants, wind turbines