Modified Spray, Brush, and Trowel-On Highly Erosion and Impact Resistant Coating for On-Vehicle Composite Surface Application

Internal composite flow surfaces on US Navy air cushion vehicles (ACV) experience wear due to high velocity air carrying water, particulate, and debris. NanoSperse proposes to eliminate ACV composite damage by adapting its highly erosion and impact resistant coating currently supplied to the US Navy to protect P-8 composite optics turrets, for use in this application. By modifying the currently supplied coating system with chemical and particulate filler technology vetted under existing USAF funded coatings research to further increase coating robustness, NanoSperse can develop highly resistant compounds for easy, on-vehicle, application to ACV composite surfaces by maintenance personnel. Modified systems will be tested under particulate erosion in the particulate erosion test chamber operated by UDRI at Wright-Patterson AFB. A down-selected system will then be subjected to salt-fog exposure via ASTM B117 followed by a second set particulate erosion testing to demonstrate that there are no detrimental effects to performance resulting from saltwater exposure. The goal of this effort is to advance a spray, brush, and/or trowel-on, erosion and impact resistant coating system toward rapid qualification for use in US Navy applications.