CONTROLLED EMISSIVITY MATERIALS

THE COMBINED USE OF MULTIPLE SENSORS SUCH AS VISIBLE OPTICS, FLIRS, AND THERMAL IMAGERS HAS CREATED A NEED TO CONTROL THE MULTI-SPECTRAL SIGNATURES OF HIGH VALUE TARGETS. NRC IS PROPOSING A PHASE I PROGRAM AIMED AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A METHODOLOGY FOR SELECTING AND CONTROLLING THE EMISSIVITY OF PAINTS AND COATINGS FOR LOW OBSERVABLE APPLICATIONS. THE KEY ELEMENT IN THIS PROPOSED EFFORT IS AN AVAILABLE COMPUTER CODE CALLED SEPAC (SPECTRAL EMITTANCE OF PAINTS AND COATINGS) WHICH WILL BE USED TO CALCULATE (FROM FIRST PRINCIPALS) THE SURFACE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF PAINTS AND COATINGS. PRIOR RESULTS OBTAINED WITH SEPAC HAVE SHOWN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH EMISSIVITY MEASUREMENTS ON SOME SPECIFIC PAINT AND COATING SYSTEMS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO FORMULATE, FABRICATE, AND EVALUATE SPECIFIC BINDER/PIGMENT COMBINATIONS FOR PROOF OF CONCEPT.