Large Caliber Gun Tube Erosion Mitigation Coating Technology

Creare proposes to develop an innovative thermal-spray coating system to coat the interior of large caliber extended-range gun tubes to extend their service life by ten to twenty times. The coating system is comprised of an innovative thermal spraytechnique using novel refractory materials. Our combined hardware/materials system holds the promise of forming coatings inside of gun tubes that are capable of withstanding the erosive environment caused by extreme temperatures, chemical release, andcharge movement that are the direct result of firing. The hardware is a unique combination of commercially available thermal spray and specialty coating equipment that offers the potential of creating dense, adherent coatings having tight tolerances.The materials systems we propose are unique in character and hold the potential to greatly increase performance. In Phase I, we will prepare sample coupons, which will be subjected to a battery of tests that simulate the erosion and wear in a gun barrel.The results from Phase I will guide the development of an in-bore coating system in Phase II that will be employed to coat the interior of a large caliber gun tube to test coating performance under typical firing conditions.The benefits of the proposed guntube coating process are expected to be (1) improved erosion performance, (2) reduced life-cycle cost, and (3) excellent coating deposition control. A similar coating system could extend the life of tubes, boilers, turbine blades, and reactors associatedwith extreme environments encountered in chemical processing industries, power plants, marine environments, aerospace turbines, and foundries.