Novel Diamond-Like Carbon and Amorphous Chromium Carbide Coatings for Significantly Extended Life of Military Parts

Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) / Department of Defense (DoD) military platforms operate in extreme environments, exposing parts to harsh corrosion and wear conditions. Coatings are required to protect critical DLA/DoD parts from corrosion and wear damage to ensure operability of military platforms.  Legacy coatings in widespread usage, such as phosphate, silver, and cadmium, fail to protect parts. Cadmium is also highly toxic and harmful to personnel and the environment. Oil and solid film lubricants (SFL) are often used to improve lubricity and reduce wear on parts. However, oil degrades over time and with heat, and can become contaminated with particulates, leading to damaged parts. SFL coatings ablate over time, failing to provide lubricity and wear protection throughout the lifecycle of the part.   Next generation coating technology is needed to provide superior protection, enhanced durability, and extended life for DLA/DoD parts. IBC Materials & Technologies, LLC (IBC) proposes a solution that uses Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) and amorphous Chromium Carbide (a-CrC) coating technologies.   DLC is a self-lubricating ceramic coating that provides corrosion protection, high durability and very low friction?without oil. IBC’s DLC is TRL 6 for new applications, with tailoring needed to meet requirements for specific DLA/DoD parts. IBC has applied DLC to armament systems (e.g., GAU-8, M197, and MAU-12) to replace?phosphate coatings, with development and testing still ongoing.  Amorphous CrC is a fully dense, chemically inert, and highly-conformal ceramic coating with exceptional corrosion resistance. Amorphous CrC coating is an eco-friendly replacement for cadmium coating that also provides superior corrosion resistance for fasteners. IBC's a-CrC?is?TRL 5, with robust coating?capabilities and multiple military applications, including the MAU-12. Amorphous CrC has been applied to 1000's of tight tolerance fasteners with total batch consistency and uniformity.?  This Phase I will allow IBC to fully understand the key goals of the DLA; reciprocally, the DLA will fully understand the capabilities and benefits of IBC’s technologies. This coordination will allow IBC to address key DLA issues to improve fleet readiness and supply chain resiliency through extended part life. The DLA and IBC will determine specific part(s) that will be the focus of a continued Phase II effort. The feasibility of IBC’s solution will be proven through in-house lab scale testing on coupons using relevant techniques and materials.