NON-ASBESTOS REPLACEMENT MATERIALS FOR NAVAL AIRCRAFT

A TWO-PHASE PROGRAM IS PROPOSED IN SUPPORT OF NAVAIRS MISSION TO ELIMINATE ASBESTOS-CONTAINING MATERIALS FROM ITS AIRCRAFT ENGINES. IN PHASE I, A THOROUGH SURVEY WILL BE MADE OF ALL COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE, NON-ASBESTOS REPLACEMENT MATERIALS. THE SURVEY INCLUDES REVIEW OF THE PATENT AND RESEARCH LITERATURE, AND IN-DEPTH DISCUSSIONS WITH DOD PERSONNEL, ENGINE AND AIRFRAME COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS, GASKET PRODUCERS AND INDUSTRIAL FIRMS INVOLVED IN ADVANCED MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT. IN PHASE II, THE MORE PROMISING MATERIALS WILL BE EVALUATED IN STATIC SCREENING TESTS AS DEFINED BY ASTM AND DIM STANDARD TESTS, AS WELL AS MIL-G-24696(SH). THE TOP CANDIDATES WILL BE SUBJECTED TO COMPONENT PERFORMANCE TESTS AND CRITICAL COMPONENTS POSSIBLY TO 150-HR ENGINE TESTS. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS MAY HAVE TO BE DEVELOPED FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS WHERE NO COMMERCIAL MATERIAL QUALIFIES. PROGRAM TIMING HAS BEEN STRUCTURED TO PROVIDE NAVAIR WITH FULLY QUALIFIED, NON-ASBESTOS REPLACEMENT MATERIALS AND THE NECESSARY SUPPORTING DATA TO PERMIT IT TO ELIMINATE ASBESTOS SHEET GASKET MATERIALS FROM ITS NAVAL AIRCRAFT ENGINES BY AUGUST 1993. FOSTER-MILLER IS QUALIFIED IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF ADVANCED, HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS. OUR ENGINEERS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SOLVED DIFFICULT SEALING PROBLEMS IN PROPULSION ENGINES, CENTRAL POWER STATIONS AND INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING EQUIPMENT.